Ice and Fire
by ICantThinkofanOriginalName
Summary: Blossom finds herself in an unusual situation when an issue with her powers leaves her vulnerable and the only person who can help her is the guy she's hated since childhood. Can she get over the past enough to accept his help, or would she rather allow herself to suffer instead?
1. Chapter 1

She was cold. No, she was very cold. No, she was freezing. Frigid? Icy? Chilly? Frosty? Hyperborean? Geez, why wasn't she able to find a word strong enough for it?

Blossom was sitting on her bed huddled under nearly every blanket in the house. For the past hour she had been perusing different dictionary and thesaurus sites, trying to find the best synonym for the word 'cold'. Her quest had come to naught; there was not a single word that could accurately describe how she felt at the moment. She threw her laptop down on the ground, then instantly regretted it when she heard a small 'crack' as it landed. Well, shoot, she would just have to fix it later. She had no trouble fixing electronics; Buttercup constantly broke her phone and computer, so Blossom had had plenty of practice with fixing them. No, the problem was getting her hands to stop shaking with cold long enough to actually get things done.

Needless to say, Blossom was miserable. This had been going on for weeks, and it was only getting worse. Her sisters didn't have to go through crap like this, so why did she?

As the girls grew older they grew stronger, and with every growth spurt they had, they each experienced a sudden increase in their powers, especially those 'special abilities' they possessed. Blossom eventually got to the point where her ice breath had turned into general icy awesomeness that she could summon at any point with little effort. She had openly laughed when Frozen came to theaters in Townsville. Elsa had nothing on her.

Of course, though, that had to come with a price. Each growth spurt saw Blossom huddled up next to a heater as her body cooled beyond human possibility. There was even one awful year where it happened in February and had given her hypothermia. She couldn't fight or go to school for a week.

When she and her sisters turned fifteen, the Professor assured them that the sudden growth spurts were over. They were grown enough that any further growth would be gradual. No more sudden, miserable bursts of power.

So why the heck was it happening again? She hadn't experience cold like this since the eighth grade. FOUR FREAKING YEARS AGO. And she swore this time was worse. Her lips were turning blue, there were signs of mild frostbite on her nose and fingers, and all the heaters and blankets in the house were doing nothing for her. Not to mention that it was the hottest July the city had experienced in years and the AC was off.

The Professor was freaking out. Bubbles and Buttercup had sacrificed the sheets and comforters off their own beds to bury Blossom in. There were two heaters pointing at her. And yet, nothing. She hadn't stopped shivering in a week and a half, and it had been snowing in her room for the past four days.

From inside her cotton cave, Blossom could hear the muffled sound of the hotline ringing. Strange, there hadn't been an attack in a couple of weeks. It was simply too hot outside; villains and monsters alike were unwilling to venture out into the sweltering heat. Oh, what Blossom wouldn't give to be one of them right now, lying around and complaining about the warmth of the summer months.

She could hear Bubbles answering the hotline, and telling Buttercup about the Rowdyruffs robbing a bank downtown. Blossom popped her head out and told them to wait up for her before beginning the unnecessarily complicated process of extricating herself from her blanket pile.

Both of her sisters looked wary, and when Blossom made it out and said, "Let's go," Buttercup reached out to stop her.

"You sure about this, Bloss? You don't look so good," the brunette said. Bubbles agreed with her.

Blossom only smiled and flew to the closet to dig out her coat. "Absolutely. Maybe moving around will help. Besides, you have to handle Butch and Boomer already. I'm not gonna dump Brick on you guys, too. It's not fair. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She shot out the window in a flash of pink, and her sisters, after sharing a look of concern, followed.

The boys weren't exactly hard to find, and the girls wasted no time in going after them. They didn't even stop to exchange insults - after years fighting each other, they had completely run out of original put-downs. Instead, they simply launched into battle.

For a few moments there was complete chaos as loud bangs and flashes of light rained down around them. Blossom felt a hand twist into her hair, and suddenly she was being dragged up towards the sky. Before she could pull herself away, she was slammed down on top of a building. Something landed on top of her, and she looked up to find furious red eyes only inches from her own.

She tensed as she prepared for the beatdown that was surely coming, and it was a few moments before she realized that Brick had moved away. Seizing the opportunity Blossom stood up and set herself in a fighting position. She tugged at the collar of her coat mindlessly. Dang, it was really warm out here.

Wait.

It was warm?

She looked down at her midsection in confusion as two arms wrapped around her and pinned her own arms to her side. A gravelly voice sounded next to her ear.

"Damn, pinky. You're freezing."

"What the heck! Let me go," she protested as she began to furiously struggle against his hold.

"Calm down, it's not like I want to do this. Something happened to my fuckin' powers and I've been hotter than hell for the past week, and not in the good way. I tried to rig the air conditioner to get even colder, but then I broke it and can't fix it and now we need money to pay the damn repairman. What are you, made of ice or somethin'? This is the most comfortable I've been since...well, it's been a while."

Something in the tone of his voice was very familiar to Blossom. If she didn't know any better, she would have said that he sounded almost desperate. Her eyebrows furrowed as she asked, "You too?"

"Me too what?"

"Something happened to your powers too? Something that hasn't happened in years?"

"Well, yeah. I kinda just said that, didn't I? Wait, how did you know that it's been years?"

His grip loosened, and she turned around and took a step back to look him in the eyes once more. "Because it happened to me too! Well, kinda. I'm having the opposite problem. But that's probably because I control ice, and you, well, you know, have that thing with the fire."

She took another step back and, as if to prove her point, goosebumps appeared on her arm and she began to shiver slightly.

Brick took a deep breath and, with a look of revulsion, said, "Alright, here's the deal. In light of what's going on, how 'bout we just sit this one out?"

"Fine by me," Blossom replied, and she walked over to the edge of the building and sat down, swinging her legs over the side and peering down of the fights going on below. Brick set himself down on her right, their arms just barely touching. Under normal conditions Blossom wouldn't have tolerated being so close to him unless it was necessary to win a fight, but, she had to admit, he was right. He was radiating heat like crazy, and this was the first time in days that she could sit without shivering. Heck, after a minute or two she even had to take her coat off. Granted, she was still wearing a sweatshirt and the day still felt much colder than it should, but hey, at least she wasn't dying, right?

"Question," he said after another moment of staring down at their brawling siblings below.

"Shoot."

"Why have we been fighting each other for this long if we know neither side can win?"

Blossom paused at his question. She had never thought about it before, but - dare she say it? - he had a point. "I...I don't know," she answered eventually. He grunted in response, then fell silent once more.

Unable to help herself, she turned her head to look first at him, then down at the place where their arms were touching. She gasped, and nearly fell off the building. Brick looked over and saw it too, the steam rising from the space between them. Her eyes met his, her panic reflected in his expression, and both stood up.

"Well, thanks, but I really should get going," she said as she hastily backed away and took off towards her house, leaving her coat behind.

* * *

Two days had passed since her encounter with Brick, and Blossom was back to her shivering, frozen state. Once more she had retreated into her blanket pile, and, to her horror, was beginning to consider hunting Brick down just so she could freaking warm up again. She hated him with every fiber of her being, and the memory of sitting next to him made her cringe inwardly every time she thought about it, but the warmth from their meeting had held for a good few hours last time, and she was willing to deal with Brick if it meant gaining feeling back in her fingers.

Suddenly, she heard the hotline ringing and one of her sisters - Buttercup this time - zooming over to answer. Blossom emerged from her cave to find her green-eyed sister slamming the phone back down. Buttercup looked up at her sisters and ran her hand through her hair.

"It's those fucking-"

" _Buttercup!"_

 _"_ Sorry, _freaking_ Rowdyruffs again. They're not even doing anything productive, like stealing. They're just blowing things up near the mayor's office."

Bubbles sighed and turned to Blossom to ask, "Do you feel up to going, or do you want to stay here?"

"I'm fine," Blossom told her, a little too happily. She crossed her fingers that Brick was still in the same boat that she was in, and that she might get a brief reprieve from the cold. "Let's just go before they do anything else."

As one, the three sisters dashed out of the house and towards the mayor's office downtown.

Upon arrival, the girls found their targets zooming around and causing random explosions, just as Buttercup said they were. They split off into their usual fighting pairs, and once more Blossom found herself being dragged away from the others. This time, however, she went a lot more willingly, though if anyone asked her about it she would never admit it.

She was thrown against a wall, though, she noticed, it was much less forceful than the time previous. She stood and turned to face Brick, standing defensively but not yet attacking. "Look," she said, "I know we hate each other, but if I'm being honest-"

"Just shut up and sit down. I didn't blow up half the town to talk to you. Our air conditioning is back, but it ain't doin' its job well enough and I'm hotter than a bitch."

Blossom held back a smile at his obvious frustration, and did as she was told. They were sitting atop the same building as before, staring once more at their siblings throwing each other around the city and trying to ignore the strange steam rising between them. And, once again, Brick felt the need to break the silence.

"Hey, pinky."

"Don't call me that.'

"Sorry. I just wanted to know if you wanted any gum."

She turned and narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head with contempt. "No, I don't want any gum."

He shrugged. "Well, you could use it."

She turned and smacked his arm, hard. He let out a snort of laughter.

"Fine," she said. "Give me a piece of stupid gum."

He smiled down at her. "Oh, I don't have any. I just thought you could use it."

She punched his arm again, then stood up to walk away. She changed her mind; the warmth really wasn't worth spending time with Brick.

He was still laughing as he said, "No, wait, come back. I didn't mean it," and reached out to grab her wrist to stop her from leaving. He missed and grabbed her hand instead, which caused both of them to freeze and stare at their hands. She jerked her hand away, and Brick did the same, shoving his in his pocket. Blossom did, however, return to her spot on the side of the building, her cheeks slightly tinged with pink.

"Aw, look, she's blushing. Guess the name pinky really does suit you, doesn't it?"

" _Shut up._ At least I'm not trying to hold anyone's hand."

"I-I wasn't trying to...it's your fault. You were walking away, which is really working against both of our interests."

"I'm just fine on my own, thanks."

He turned to her, his eyebrows raised and his eyes questioning.

"Shut up," she mumbled again.

This time they both stayed until the fight below them died out. As their siblings separated, Blossom and Brick stood up and began to move away from each other. Blossom had just began to float away when Brick called out to her.

"Hey, Pinky."

She turned and folded her arms. "What?"

"Same time tomorrow?"

His question threw her off. Did she want to meet him again? Was it worth it?

He smiled at her, and, embarrassingly, her cheeks warmed slightly once more. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then," he said, and flew away.

* * *

 _ **Okay, I know that at one point I said that if I started another story, it would be more along the Butch/Buttercup lines, but I thought of this last night and I just couldn't leave it alone, you know what I mean? I just love Blossick stories, they're my favorite. Besides, it's likely that I'll just forget about this and leave it as a one-shot anyways. Sorry if it seems rushed, or if there's a lot of mistakes. I wrote this kind of quickly, and I did read over it, but that doesn't mean I caught everything. Let me know if you see anything I can fix! Thanks!**_

 _ **Oh, also, I feel a little ridiculous using terms like "Blossick," "Butchercup," etc. I really don't like typing them. For some reason it makes me cringe just a little bit. Am I the only one who feels like that? I know that it's a ship and all, and that's just what you're supposed to do so the people of the fandom know what they're getting into, but I really just hate using them. Is that just me?**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_


	2. Chapter 2, I guess

_**I'm just going to ignore my usual format and put my author's note at the beginning. Why? Because I can!**_

 _ **First of all, I just want to thank everyone who commented on and favorited the first chapter. Oh my goodness, I wrote it on a whim and I had no idea anybody would even give it a chance. Thank you all soooo much. You have no idea how great it made me feel.**_

 ** _Currently, I'm at a point where I'm doing very little with my life, so I thought it would be a good time to give my story "Overcoming Obstruction" some much needed attention...and it's not going well. I went back and edited former chapters, and that was fine. But each time I sit down to write the next chapter, my ability to write slaps me in the face and runs away. I've been trying for days, and I just can't force the next chapter to form. So, in an effort to overcome this, I have chosen to ignore the problem completely and distract myself with something else._**

 ** _I had started on part of this chapter right before publishing the first, but I didn't get very far, and left it at that. I seriously considered leaving this story as a one-shot, but then tonight happened, and I needed something to occupy myself with for a little while in order to retain my sanity. Thing is, I only have one other idea to work with at the moment (ie, Ice and Fire - it had been bothering me that I wrote it where Blossom left her coat behind and never got it back; I've honestly been waiting for someone to call me out on it)._**

 ** _AND THUS, CHAPTER TWO WAS BORN!_**

 ** _Anyways, I don't know if this chapter turned out any good, but I sure as heck had a lot of fun writing it, and I suppose that's all that matters. Since it was pretty much finished, I went ahead and published it. I figure there's no point in just leaving it in the Doc Manager until it expires._**

 ** _Once again, if you notice anything that ought to be changed, please let me know. Thanks!_**

 ** _-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-_**

* * *

Blossom found herself on top of a far too familiar rooftop, glaring at the grinning red-headed idiot. She had been woken up from a nap in her blanket cave by the sound of Buttercup throwing down the hotline's receiver and yelling about the 'damn Rowdyruff Boys screwing up the town again.'

She had been angry too, of course, but some small part of her had been relieved. That morning had been the coldest one for her yet, and she had been half-hoping for another opportunity to warm herself up.

"Seriously, you can't think of a better way to get my attention than by destroying the town?"

Completely ignoring her question, Brick held out a balled-up lump of familiar pink fabric - her coat. "I forgot to bring this yesterday. You left it behind the other day, and I thought you might want it back."

Blossom blinked in surprise, and reached out to take the coat from him. That was a strangely nice thing for him to do, and it shocked her.

"Thanks, I had completely forgo-..." Her eyes flashed up to his angrily, and he had to throw his arm up to cover his face as her fists began to rain down on him. The coat had been covered in graffiti, an awful mix explicit messages and even a few distasteful drawings. "YOU. DREW. ON. IT?!"

He pushed her away and began to laugh. "You should be thanking me that I saved you from having to wear such a lame jacket. Now you have a Brick original."

"YOU RUINED IT!"

"Hell no. I made it better!"

Blossom threw herself forward to tackle him. The two of them tumbled to the ground, and Blossom slammed her fists down on him repeatedly as he sat and laughed himself breathless.

"Alright, alright...Uncle!...Stop it! I...can't...breathe!" Blossom gave him one final shove and then began to float away. She hadn't gotten very far before the cold hit her once more and her body began to shake. Angrily and reluctantly, she turned and floated back to the rooftop and sat on the edge, refusing to look at the still-cackling ginger boy as he walked over and sat down next to her.

They sat in silence that was occasionally broken by a renewal of laughter on Brick's end. Blossom's lips slipped farther and farther into a grimace the longer she sat next to him, and she stared forward angrily at the building across from them. What she wouldn't give for this to be over and her to not need him anymore. This thought quickly turned into sadistic musings on how to get revenge and fond memories of times when she had throttled him in fights.

Suddenly, a thought struck her and and her frown turned into a savage smirk. "Hey, remember that one time right after you came back that my sisters and I made you guys cry?"

That wiped the smile off his face. "Nope. Only sissies cry."

"Oh, good. You finally admitted you're a sissy. That must be why your hair's so long, Rapunzel."

Blossom was glad she could fly, because the shove he gave her in response threw her from the building. She floated back to her spot, not bothering to hide her laughter.

"Bitch," he muttered as she settled back into her spot.

"Oh, wow. It's nice to know you've come up with an insult better than 'stupid,' 'wimpy,' and...what was the other one of your favorites? 'Lame-o'? Ah yes, you always were the epitome of sophisticated banter."

He crossed his arms and grumbled, "I hate you."

"Darn. And we were just starting to become such good friends."

They slipped into an angry silence once more, listening to the chaos in the city below them. The fire started by Brick and his brothers still raged below, and nearby Butch crashed through the side of a building, followed closely by Buttercup. There was a loud sound of crinkling plastic, and Blossom looked over to find Brick opening a bag of chips he had pulled out of his pocket. He shoved a few into his mouth, then looked over at her and grinned. He hadn't bother to swallow his food before doing so, and Blossom got an eyeful of the partially-chewed bits of fried potato stuck to his teeth. "Want some?" he asked with his mouth still full. She gave him a look of disgust and turned away once more.

He continued to eat, and she swore he was purposely chewing with his mouth open so she could hear each annoying crunch. Eventually, he finished and threw the empty chip bag into the air, then watched it float down to the ground. When it reached the street below, he stood stood and wiped his hands on his pants.

"I think that's enough for today," he said, and then floated away.

Blossom made it home before either of her sisters. She slammed the coat down on her bed before throwing herself on top of her blankets and groaning into them. She turned her head to the side and looked at the ruined coat. It had been so pretty before, a nice, classic trench coat that had kept her warm all last winter. And now it was ruined. She really should have just tossed it on the way back home.

Suddenly, something written on it caught her eye. There was a spot just below "the Prufessur suks dik" where the handwriting was significantly nicer. Blossom sat up and pulled the material closer to her. There was a phone number carefully written there, followed by the words "just in case."

* * *

Blossom was sitting on her bed, staring down at the keyboard on her phone. Her ruined coat was sitting next to her, and the number from it had already been reluctantly entered into her contacts. She was shivering so hard that she kept missing the buttons and having to start over.

She was all alone in her room. Bubbles and Buttercup, after being assured many times by their sister that she would be just fine on her own for a while, had headed down to the beach with some friends of theirs. Blossom had been trying to type the stupid message ever since.

It had been three days since her last encounter with the red-eyed heathen, and she was desperate. It didn't matter how much she disliked him at this point. Half her blankets were stiff with ice and there had been a steady flurry in the room for the past six hours. The Professor had come in a little while ago and announced that her hands and feet were in the early stages of frostbite.

After another ten minutes of trying, failing, and repeating, she had finally been able to make her phone say 'you know where to meet me.' She stared at the screen while rubbing her hands together. Idly, she started to blow on her hands to get them to warm up - bad idea. She had to fly to the bathroom and stick her hands under the tap to get the new layer of ice to melt off of them. When she returned there was a single message waiting for her - "It's about damn time."

Grabbing one of the few blankets not ruined by her ice powers, she wrapped herself up and slipped out the window.

She arrived to find Brick sprawled out on the rooftop. He was shirtless and wearing shorts, and sweating rather profusely. Wrinkling her nose at the sight, Blossom landed and stared down at him. He rolled his eyes lazily over in her direction and looked up at her face. They exchanged unhappy looks with each other for a few moments before he said, "Don't ever take pictures with the camera pointing at your face from below. It's a really bad angle for you."

Blossom gave him a halfhearted kick before sitting down nearby. Already the numbness was fading from her skin, and she was able unwrap the blanket from around her. Brick caught her eye, and she saw his usual smirk make an appearance.

"What is it now," she asked with a sigh.

"Nothing. Nice pajamas."

Her cheeks warmed as she looked down and found that she had never changed out of her bedclothes from the night before. The tiny unicorns smiled up at her, and she grimaced back at them.

Brick sat up and scooted closer, sending a burst of warmth in Blossom's direction. She looked up as he moved and let out a small gasp.

"You...you cut your hair."

"Yeah, well someone said it made me look like a sissy," he told her with a glare. Her eyebrows pulled together and she frowned slightly. Ever since he came back, he had had long hair, usually pulled back or held in place by his cap. Now he looked more like the first time they had met, with just a little bit of shaggy fringe sticking out from underneath the cap.

She almost kind of liked it.

"Geez. I didn't think...I'm sorry," she mumbled. He shrugged in response.

They slipped into their familiar silence once more. After a few minutes Blossom shifted even closer, and again they were near enough to each other that their arms were just barely touching. The strange steam began to rise once more from between them. Soon the heat reached Blossom in full and made her drowsy. Her eyes grew heavier as time passed, and more than once she nearly nodded off.

She didn't realize that she had finally fallen asleep, but she was sure that she could have stayed that way for much longer if something hadn't kept poking her hard in the side. Her eyes opened, and she scrambled back as she realized that she had been leaning against Brick's arm. She could feel heat rushing to her cheeks, and she was sure that her face was embarrassingly red.

"Shoot! How long have I been out?"

"Couple hours, I guess. The sun's going down, and your phone's been going off like hell for a while now."

She turned to check the device, and sure enough she had multiple missed calls from every member of her family. Brick stood up next to her and stretched.

"Well, it's been fun pinky, but I really should get going now."

"Wait, why didn't you wake me up sooner? Actually, why did you let me fall asleep at all?"

Brick shrugged and turned away. "Maybe I just didn't want to have to talk to you," he said as he began to float away, then stopped and landed back on the roof. With a sigh, he walked back to where she was sitting and stuck out a hand. Blossom stared at it, then back at him. He rolled his eyes at her and said, "Usually when someone does this, you're supposed to take your own hand and grab the other person's."

Blossom looked at his hand once more and, with some trepidation, reached for it with her own. Brick pulled her to her feet, and the two of them stood there akwardly and stared at each other for a few moments until Blossom noticed goosbumps appear on his arms.

"Um, are you okay."

"It's nothin'," he told her. "It just got kinda cold out here."

At that, Blossom bent over, picked up the blanket she had been using earlier, and held it out to him. He looked at it warily, and she sighed.

"Usually, when someone does this, you're supposed to take your own hand and grab the blanket."

With a small smile and half a laugh, he reached out and grabbed it. Then with a nod he said, "Thanks, Blossom," and flew away. She could see him pulling the blanket over himself as he zoomed off, and began to smile herself before she took off in the direction of her own house.

She arrived home to find her sisters just setting out to go and find her. They had been relieved to see her, and asked where she had been. She told them that she had gone out for some sun and had accidentally fallen asleep when she finally started to warm up. It wasn't a total lie, and Blossom didn't see the point in explaining who she had been with and why.

Her sisters rushed her back inside where she was greeted by a panicking Professor. He ordered her upstairs to her room, which she went to willingly. The drowsiness still hadn't fully left her system, and she really wanted to lie down and sleep for a little while. She settled herself into her bed, and shoved most of the blankets she had been using onto the floor. It was warm enough that just her normal sheets and comforter would suffice. She checked her phone one last time before drifting off and found a single message waiting for her.

 _ **We should do that again sometime**_

Heat rushed to her face as she stared down at the message. Slowly, she opened up the keyboard and stared at it, unsure of what to say. Should she even reply at all? She felt like she had to. But what should she say?

The obvious choice was to say no. After all, they hated each other, didn't they? Then again, she wasn't so sure if that was the case now. By no means was she fond of him, but suddenly 'hate' seemed like too strong of a word. Maybe it was just a strong dislike? Perhaps their animosity had settled into a mild resentment. She wasn't sure what a good word for it was. She would have to break out the thesaurus later.

Carefully, she typed " _ **Yeah, why not**_ " and pressed send.

* * *

Halfway across Townsville, Brick was sitting underneath a sweet-smelling blanket and watching his bothers fail at video games. He wrinkled his nose; it smelled like girl. But it was soft and he liked it, so there was no point in destroying it.

Suddenly his phone lit up, and he looked down at the response to his own message. He regarded it with a half-smile for a moment before shoving it into his pocket and moving to the couch where his bothers were.

"Alright, ladies. Let me show you how this game is really played."

"Bro, sweet blanket. Where'dya get that?" Boomer asked him.

"I stole it from a baby. Now shuddup and give me the controller."

Butch sniffed the air a little bit. "Dude, you smell like soap. What the hell've you been doin'?"

"Your mom. Just play the stupid game."

Boomer continued to look at his older brother as he played. "Why do ya keep smiling?"

"Why do _you_ keep asking stupid questions?"

The blue-eyed boy shrugged and turned his attention back to the game.

Boomer had a point, though. Brick couldn't keep the small smirk off his face for more than a few seconds, and it had nothing to do with the game. Damn, he must really be feeling better.


	3. Apparently there's three chapters now

"Blossom. _Blossom. BLOSSOM!_ "

The house was on fire - Blossom could feel it burning before she even fully woke up. Someone was shaking her roughly, and her eyes flew open to find the light blue and green eyes of her sisters staring down at her. Their faces displayed mingled shock and concern - as they should. Their house was going to burn down!

"Where's the professor, we need to get him out of here!" she screamed at the two girls above her as she tried to sit up. The pair shared a worried look before turning back to look at their sister and gently pushing her back down in her bed.

"Blossom, you were screaming in you sleep-"

"Of course I was screaming! The freaking house is on fire!" the ginger shouted.

"No, Blossom. It really isn't," Buttercup told her.

"What do you mean? Can't you feel it? It's burning up in here!"

"No it isn't," Bubbles responded slowly. "There's nothing wrong. At all. You were asleep. It must have been a bad dream."

Why didn't they understand? Couldn't they feel it? The thick, burning heat was impossible to miss. Blossom sat up fully and looked around. There was no sign of a fire in sight, and she certainly couldn't smell anything burning.

So where was this searing heat coming from?

Blossom shot up from the bed and ran for the bathroom, where she turned on the tap and began to splash cold water on her face and arms. It didn't help at all. Her skin was burning, her blood boiling. It felt as though she was cooking from the inside out.

She returned to her room and, completely ignoring her sisters, began pulling off the layers of clothes she had worn to bed and changing into a pair of light shorts and a tank top. It made little difference - her skin still prickled with heat. The other two Powerpuffs were still staring at her, worry plain on their faces. She could hear them muttering to each other, but it was too hot for her to care what they were saying.

Suddenly, Blossom's phone lit up, and she could hear the buzz that signaled a new message sound once, twice, thrice. She reached out for the device and unlocked it to look at her messages, all of which came from the same person - Brick.

 ** _Holy hell, you were contagious_**

 ** _What the fuck did you do to me?_**

 ** _Meet me NOW_**

As she read, something clicked, and she shot up.

"Um, wow. You're right. I guess I just had a bad dream. But hey! Look at that. I'm not cold anymore!" she exclaimed.

"Blossom...are you okay?" Bubbles asked hesitantly. Blossom's phone lit up once more as a call came in from none other than the red-eyed boy himself. She ignored it and tried compose herself before responding to the blonde.

"Yeah, yeah. I am. Just a bad dream, like I said. I think I'm gonna go for a little fly around the city real quick. Clear my head, you know?"

"Okay, let's go," Buttercup said.

"No!" she said, too quickly. Forcing herself to appear calm, she tried again. "No. I'll be fine on my own. You guys just go back to sleep."

The window was thrown open and she flew out before either of them could say anything else.

* * *

She flew at top speed through the city until she finally came to a familiar rooftop and landed. She wiped the sweat off her face and breathed deeply. All of a sudden, something hard and cold hit her like a ton of bricks.

Well, like of ton of Brick, anyways.

He shoved her and she stumbled, and suddenly his face was mere inches away from hers. She noticed, with some amusement, that he was clutching the very blanket she had given him the day before.

"What the hell did you do to me?" He screamed in her face.

"Look, I know it's weird, but-"

"I'm freezing. FREEZING! Dammit, I can't handle the cold! Why do ya think we don't attack you guys in the winter? I can't fucking handle it!"

"Geez, calm down. I think I know what's wrong."

Brick closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he finally opened them again, Blossom continued to speak.

"There was this one time right after I got my ice powers where something like this happened. I had used it all up or something, and, instead, I could breathe fire. The Professor told me that my body was just overcompensating for the cold, and when the cold ran my body didn't have enough time to adjust properly. I guess something like that happened now. Our bodies tried to correct themselves, and instead went from one extreme to another. Which is good, because it means this is almost over and we don't have to spend any more time with each other."

Brick was silent through her explanation and stared at her warily. When she finished speaking, though, he threw himself forward and flung his arms around her.

"What the heck! Get off me," she yelled as she tried to break his grip.

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I mean, it's really fucking cold, and you're warm. So, no."

"You didn't see me trying to cuddle with you when I was freezing!"

He told her to shut up, and she stood there awkwardly with her arms dangling down by her sides and a shivering Rowdyruff hanging on to her. She had to admit, though. The cold that was emanating off of him felt pretty great on her burning skin. Slowly, Brick's shivering came to a halt and both of them began to stabilize.

"Thank god you're so hot," he said as he finally let go. With a small smile at her own terrible wit, Blossom replied, "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."

Brick's eyes widened and his cheeks reddened. "N-no. That's not what I..." He was cut off by Blossom's laughter at his expense.

"Ah, look. He's blushing. Who's the pinky now?"

Blossom saw Brick's eyes suddenly fix on something over her shoulder and - though she didn't see how it was possible - widen even further. His arms shot forward, and she found herself flying backwards and tumbling over the edge of the building. Angrily, she shot back up to the rooftop, but stopped short when she saw the other two Rowdyruff's joining their brother. Before they could see her, she floated downward to where she was just barely peeking over the ledge.

Boomer landed first, followed closely by Butch. The latter looked around and saw the last of the strange steam Blossom and Brick had been producing drift away.

"Hey, man. I didn't know you vaped."

"I- what?" Brick asked.

"That stuff all around you? It doesn't smell like smoke or weed, so I just assumed..."

"Oh, yeah. That's what I was doin'. Vaping. Yeah."

Butch let out a snort of laughter. "Damn. What a prick."

"Hehe, yeah. Brick's a prick. Hey! That rhymed!" Boomer shouted.

Red and green eyes met blue one, and Boomer found the back of his head being smacked by both of his brothers as they told him to "shut up."

Brick sighed and put his face in his hands. "Look, guys. Go to Fuzzy's shack or somethin'. I'll be there later. There's somethin' I gotta finish here."

"Alright. We get it, you vape. We'll leave ya to it, then. C'mon Boomer, let's go," Butch said. With another loud laugh he flew off. Boomer, however, stayed still for a moment. His eyes had settled on the edge of the building, where moments before he could have sworn he saw pink ones staring back at him.

"Boom, you okay?" Brick broke through Boomer's train of thought, and the blonde boy looked suspiciously over at his brother before reassuming his usual senseless smile.

"Yeah, man. Hey, when you get back, can I get a turn with the blanket?"

"If I say yes will you leave?"

"Yeah."

"Then fine." With a triumphant shout, Boomer finally flew away. Blossom slowly floated up and landed next to where Brick was standing. There was silence between them for a few moments as they stared at the spot where the intruders had vanished. This time, though, it was Blossom's turn to break it.

"Hey, Brick?"

"What?"

"Is it cool if I call you Brick the Prick from now on?"

She laughed as he sent a red-eyed glare at her. Behind them the sun was just reaching over the horizon. Blossom turned to look at it, and thought about how her sisters must be waking up soon - that is, if they had even gone to bed. Honestly, she was a little surprised that they weren't out scouring the city for her yet. She supposed that she should go home, but...

"Hey, do you wanna go get coffee or somethin'?"

Blossom turned back to Brick. "Wait, what?"

"Ya know, coffee. A lot of people drink it in the morning. I just figured 'white girl - coffee', it just makes sense, right? So you wanna go?"

She hesitated and looked back in the direction of her house. There were no green or blue streaks rushing towards her - yet - so she answered, "Yeah, sure."

* * *

The two of them sat at a table in an older coffee shop, sipping from the mugs that had been provided for them. They were the first customers for the day, so it was just them two and a barista who kept shooting strange looks at them. Blossom couldn't blame her - a Powerpuff girl who looked like she had just rolled out of bed casually drinking with one of her biggest enemies - who also just so happened to be wrapped up in a fluffy blanket - wasn't exactly something people saw everyday.

For the most part, the two of the sat in silence as they drank their coffee and watched the city come to life outside the window. Shortly before they both finished their drinks, Brick decided to reinstate conversation by asking, "So you're sure you know what happened to us this time, right?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do."

"Any idea how long it'll last?"

Blossom took another sip of her drink and thought for a moment before answering. "Maybe a day or two at the longest. That one time it happened to me before it was over almost immediately."

"Do ya know why it started in the first place?"

"Not a clue." Brick nodded, and looked away thoughtfully. During the lull in their conversation, the barista walked by and set a bill on their table.

"Hey, pinky?"

"What have we said about calling me that?"

Brick ignored her response and continued, "What'll we do after it's over? We just gonna hate each other again?"

This question was harder to answer, and Blossom had drained the cup of the last of its contents before answering, "You know what? I don't know." Brick nodded and looked down at the slip of paper the barista had given them. Blossom reached for her wallet before realizing that she didn't have it with her. Of course she didn't. How could she have been so stupid? She had never intended to buy anything when she left the house, so obviously she wouldn't have brought it with her.

Seeing her beginning to panic, Brick reached out and picked up the bill. "Don't worry, I got it," he told her. "Just go on and head outside. I'll take care of it."

With a few 'thank you's' - a phrase she never thought she would need to say to Brick Jojo, of all people - Blossom stood up and headed out the door. Once outside, she stopped and waited. After all, if he was picking up the tab then it was only polite to wait for him. Eventually he came out the door, and Blossom thanked him again. He looked at her and started to laugh.

"Damn, did you really think I was gonna pay? All I had was a quarter. I just knew that you wouldn't have left if you'd known that."

Her eyes widened and her breathing picked up. "You mean...we just left without paying? Brick, that's stealing!"

"No, no. _Borrowing_. But they won't see it like that, so we should probably go now." He grabbed her by the wrist and started to take off. Blossom, unsure of what to do, resisted for a moment before allowing him to pull her along. They flew for a few blocks before landing once more, and Brick turned to her with his eyes shining and said, "Well, look at that. You're on the wrong side of the law now. Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Blossom rolled her eyes at him. "I've stolen before, you know."

Brick looked at her in surprise. "Hot damn, pinky's got a bad side. What did you take?"

"Golf clubs. They were for the Professor."

He snorted. "And for a moment here I thought you might be cool after all."

Blossom's reply was lost as she heard her name being called in the distance. Looking up, she could see two familiar shapes soaring high above the city.

"Uh oh, here comes the fuzz. See ya later, pinky." Brick flew off, and Blossom shot up into the sky after her sisters.

* * *

Bubbles and Buttercup flew Blossom back home, Buttercup yelling at her the whole way there.

"You, of all people, know how dangerous Townsville can be at night, but would you let one of us go with you? No! You were gone for _hours_. We had no freaking idea what had happened to you. You could have been attacked, and we wouldn't have been able to help you!"

"Calm down," Blossom told the brunette. "I lost track of the time, okay? I'm sorry."

"Besides," Bubbles cut in, "You fell asleep almost as soon as she left, so you couldn't have been _that_ worried."

"I was! That's what I do when I'm worried!"

"Sure it is."

By the time they arrived at their house, Blossom was feeling the uncomfortable heat take over once more. After giving her sisters a few more superficial excuses, Blossom slipped upstairs and cranked up the air conditioner before laying down on the floor or her room.

She had felt her phone buzz in her pocket during the flight home, and now she pulled it out to check. Sure enough, there was a single message from the red-eyed moron himself. She unlocked her phone and read it with a small smile.

 ** _Wanna go to the movies or something later?_**

As she read, another one popped up.

 ** _My treat ;)_**

Did her ears deceive her? Did something Brick had sent actually make her laugh? At that point Bubbles walked into the room with a basket of laundry and saw her sister smiling at her phone as she typed. "Who are you talking to?" she asked.

"Oh, nobody. Hey, do you think it'll be okay if I go to the movies later?"

"Probably. Are you going with somebody?"

"Nobody important."

Bubbles stopped in the middle of folding a pair of pants, and shot a look at Blossom. Normally they were completely open with each other. The only time her sister had ever withheld information before was when...when there was a guy involved.

"So what's his name?"

Blossom's eyes snapped over to the blonde. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh. Anybody I know?"

The ginger smiled. "Yeah, but like I said. It's nobody important."

Bubbles's eyebrows creased, and she turned back to her laundry. "If you say so." The blonde made a mental note to tell Buttercup about it later; she was typically a little more...persuasive than Bubbles was, and would probably have more success weedling information out of their sister. Whether she could find out what was going on or not, though, Bubbles was sure of one thing. Her sister had disappeared twice in the past couple of days without really telling them where she was going, and now she was purposely hiding something from her. Blossom wasn't telling them something, and she wasn't sure if she should be worried about it or not.

* * *

 _ **Well, now I'm just having too much fun writing this to leave it alone.**_

 _ **I went back and watched the episode where Blossom first got her ice powers just for cheese and giggles, and at the end she actually did breathe fire. When I saw that, I was like, "Yep. There's chapter three right there." I tried to pick it up a little in this chapter, just so things could move forward a little bit more. I hope I didn't rush it too much.**_

 _ **Oh, also, I changed the format of the text messages since my last update just so they stand out from normal dialogue a little bit better. Just thought I'd let you know.**_

 _ **As always, let me know if you see something that needs to be fixed. Thanks for reading, and thanks especially for all the feedback so far!**_

 ** _-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-_**


	4. And then there were four chapters

Blossom stood outside of the movie theater, checking her phone repeatedly for some sign or other from Brick. She had arrived there about five minutes ago, but it felt much longer. She breathed deeply and looked around; people were staring. Of course they were, she was a freaking Powerpuff Girl. Would they notice when Brick got there? Perhaps it was better that she just go back home.

Suddenly two tickets flashed in front of her face, and Brick materialized behind them. There was a smug little smirk on his face as Blossom reached for her ticket.

"Ya know, I'm kinda surprised you showed up. Thought you were ready to be done with me. Guess you just couldn't stay away."

Blossom rolled her eyes and turned to walk into the theater, then paused and looked suspiciously first at the piece of paper in her hand, then at Brick.

"These aren't stolen, are they?"

"Nah, I actually paid for these." She breathed a sigh of relief and continued to walk inside. A moment later, Brick added, "But the money I used was stolen."

Blossom gasped and stopped once more. Brick just laughed and grabbed her wrist, dragging her the rest of the way inside and ignoring her protests.

"Look, just go and grab a seat, alright? I'll be right there."

He gave her a small shove towards the kid taking tickets, and she moved forward to hand the piece of paper to him. She was told to go to theater seven, and walked along the hallway until she found it. Once inside, she walked up the steps and settled herself in a seat right in the center of the room. An entire trailer had passed before Brick showed up in the seat next to her with a large bucket of popcorn.

"Sorry, had to wait a bit to get this." He held the bucket out to her, and she eyed it warily.

"I'm not eating anything that was paid for with stolen money," she told him.

"Oh, c'mon. I didn't pay for this with that money. I swiped it off the counter while someone wasn't looking."

Blossom crossed her arms and looked stubbornly away from the offensive snack, which caused Brick to laugh once more.

"C'mon, just take a bite. It ain't gonna kill you."

"Don't mind if I do," said an annoyingly familiar voice behind them, and a hand moved between their heads and reached into the popcorn bucket. The reds both whipped around to find none other than little boy blue himself stuffing his face with a handful of stolen popcorn.

"Boomer, what the hell are you doing here?"

The boy offered them a smile which showed off all the kernels now stuck between his teeth; Blossom guessed that bad eating habits ran in the family.

"Told ya I'm not as dumb as I look. I followed ya here, and saw ya goin' in with the stupid Puff. Figured you had a plan, so I went to help. Guess ya don't need my help, though, do ya? Seem to be doin' just fine on your own."

He winked at Blossom, and her cheeks flushed scarlet. Brick turned farther around in his seat and grabbed Boomer's shirt to pull him closer.

"Listen, I'll deal with you later. Get the fuck out of here, alright? I'm in the middle of something."

"Don't worry, man. I gotcha covered. Ya won't even know I'm here."

"I don't want you to be here at all, dammit!"

"Nah, it's cool. I won't bother y'all."

"GET YOUR ASS OUT OF HERE."

Some of the other people around them turned at this and shushed Brick. The couple right next to them even got up and moved away. Boomer continued to smile the whole time.

"Look, bro. It's not my fault you've gone soft as shit now. But I'm cool with it. You wanna screw around with a Puff? Go right ahead. I ain't stoppin' ya."

"I'm not going soft, and this ain't a date or nothin'."

"Suuurre. Bro, you took a shower. With soap. That just ain't done, unless ya got something to do. Or, in this case, some _one_ to do."

Brick put his face in his hands and sank low into his seat. Blossom's face turned - if it was possible - even more red. When it appeared that Brick was no longer going to speak, she herself turned to face Boomer. "Here's the deal," she told him. "It's been a stupid couple of weeks, and the only way to fix it was to deal with each other. Nothing romantic or anything. Heck, we're not really even friends. It's just a necessary evil, and it should be over soon. Then we'll be done."

"Aw, man. You can't end it just when it's started. I finally got somethin' to hold over his head. Don't take this away from me."

Blossom chose to end the conversation there, and turned back around. Her face stayed red as the movie started, and Brick was still huddled low in his seat and hiding his face in his hands. Every few minutes Boomer's arm would snake forward and dart into the popcorn bucket.

Half an hour passed in awkward silence before Boomer took it upon himself to speak once more. Leaning forward, he put his hand against Brick's ear and began to whisper. His voice, however, carried remarkably well, and Blossom could hear everything he said.

"Hey, man. I don't wanna bother ya, but you're bein' hella rude to your date. If you really wanna get some, you gotta butter her up, ya know?" When Brick didn't move, Boomer sent Blossom what he obviously thought was a sympathetic glance. "He's never been good with girls. They scare him, ya see? He ain't got, whatcha call it? Caramel? "

"It's charisma, you dumbass," Brick mumbled from within his hands.

"Yeah, that. Anyways, I can fix this, don't worry." And with that, Boomer grabbed one of Brick's arms and tugged it free. He then dragged it towards Blossom, who stiffened as he set over her shoulders and forced their heads closer together.

"There. That's how it's done. Now that I gotcha all fixed up, Ima go and leave the rest to y'all. Just, if ya bring her home, try to be quiet, alright? If Butch finds out, he'll get all pissy and then you'll fight and then our dads will find out and I'll have nothin' to blackmail ya with. Don't screw this up for me."

At that, Boomer stood and stumbled his way down the row and out of the theater. As soon as he was gone, Brick pulled his arm back and folded it with the other firmly across his chest. Blossom stared straight ahead at the screen, though by this point she had no idea what she was even watching. Every other moment, she darted her eyes to look at Brick, and occasionally found him looking back at her. Those moments set her face aflame once more.

The rest of the movie was spent in silence, much to the relief of those sitting nearby. Before the pair knew it, the lights had been turned on and most people had exited the theater. Blossom stood up and stretched. Her eyes met Brick's for a moment, and she looked down at the floor. Why was she so embarrassed all of a sudden? It wasn't as though his opinion of her mattered. She was pretty sure he hated her, so why should she care what he was thinking about?

Determined not to be bothered by what had happened any longer, she turned to face him fully with what she considered to be confident smile. To her surprise, she found Brick to be just as red-faced as herself and still staring at the ground in front of him.

"Um, we should probably go. I think they need to clean up in here," she told him.

He nodded and followed her down the steps towards the exit. In a daze, they both made it back to the sidewalk outside, and Blossom turned to face Brick once more.

"Don't worry about what happened in there. My sisters can get pretty annoying sometimes, too. I know this wasn't a date or anything, and I don't expect us to become friends or...yeah..."

Brick mumbled something to his chest so quietly that even with her super-hearing Blossom was unable to make it out.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"I asked why we can't be friends."

Blossom blinked in surprise. "I just assumed things would go back to the way they were. We've never exactly gotten along, have we? We hate each other. Why should that change?"

Brick finally looked her in the eyes, and his expression was serious, the most serious she had ever seen it. "I hated you because I was told that's what I was supposed to do. But then I find out that you aren't all that bad half the time, and now I don't know what the hell to think. I can't go back to beating your ass every few days if I don't really have a problem with you, now can I?"

"But we're enemies. We always have been. I'm not about to be friends with a criminal, and I know you're not going to change, at least not anytime soon. Besides, people will find out, and I can't imagine that anybody will be happy about it. Well, at least nobody other than Boomer will, anyways. So what do you want me to do?"

Brick was silent for a moment before he asked, "What if we just ignored all that?"

Blossom sighed, unsure of how to answer. The silence spread between them for a few long moments before she spoke again. "Look, if we did that, sooner or later it will all just blow up in our faces, and we'll end up hating each other more than we ever have before."

The self-assured grin finally returned to Brick's face. "That's a chance I'm willing to take."

"So, what? We're suddenly friends now?"

"Damn right we are. Like I always say, you can't stop a good thing babe."

A small laugh escaped her, and his smirk grew. They began to meander down the sidewalk, ignoring the shocked glances that were sent their way by people who recognized them. The silence this time was far more comfortable than before. One might even say it was almost pleasant.

They reached an intersection at a busy street and stopped once more. When Blossom turned to face Brick she found him staring down at her with a look on his face she couldn't quite decipher. His mouth opened as though he meant to say something, but he hesitated before any sound came out. Instead, a moment later he said, "Well, guess I gotta go now. See ya later little red."

He took off, and Blossom floated up into the air slowly. She set her course for home more out of instinct than anything else, and her mind whirled the whole way there.

She realized that she had lost control of the situation, and she hated that fact. She had been thrown into a situation she couldn't even pretend she could handle, and it had led to an outcome no amount of planning could have foreseen. So she was friends with Brick now, was she? It had seemed sudden during her conversation with him, but in hindsight she supposed it had been coming on for the past couple of days.

Could she ignore the years of torment she had received from him? Though he did have a point; as children they had been told to hate each other and accepted it without a thought. Had circumstances been different, it may have been possible that they would have ended up as friends.

What about her family and friends? They wouldn't exactly be happy if they found out. Neither would any of Townsville's villains.

Then again, why did they have to know? Even if they did find out about it, why should it matter? It wasn't like they were dating or anything. And being friends didn't mean she was condoning anything he did. It simply meant that they were being civil to each other. There was nothing wrong with treating each other amicably, she supposed. She just had to remind herself not to think too highly of him. He was still evil, after all.

Blossom completely ignored the front door of her house when she arrived there, and instead floated up to he window and opened it. Soon she was settled on her bed and staring at her phone, half-hoping for it to deliver some sort of message for her. No such message came, and the phone remained silent.

Buttercup wandered into the room not long after Blossom arrived, and set herself down on the end of the ginger's bed.

"Hey, I didn't realize you were home. How was the movie?"

"Not that great, really."

"Oh. What'd you see?"

Blossom paused and blinked in confusion. She still had no idea what had actually been playing, nor could she really recall anything that had happened in the film. Her thoughts had been otherwise engaged for most of it. "Honestly," she told her sister. "I have no idea."

"That's...kinda weird. How do you see a movie and not know what it is?"

"I wasn't really paying attention."

"Ohhhhh, yeah. Bubbles told me you were meeting some dude. What's his name?"

"Gosh darn it, why does everyone assume I was on a date! I was just hanging out with a...a friend."

"Uh huh, sure. Who?"

"Nobody important."

"Okay, so that means it's someone I know, but you don't want to tell me who it is. What the hell, Blossom? What happened to not keeping secrets from each other?"

"I'm not keeping secrets. I'm withholding information. There's a difference."

"Whatever. You do realize I'll find out eventually, right?"

"There's nothing to find out."

"Suuurrrre. Look, if you feel like actually telling me something, you know where to find me."

Buttercup stood up to walk away, but Blossom reached out to stop her. "Wait," she said. "Do you remember when you had a thing for Ace, and you didn't want us to know about it?"

The green-eyed girl sat back down and looked weirdly at her sister. "...Are you saying that it's Ace?"

"No! Ew. I'm just saying, you didn't let me and Bubbles know what was going on then. Even after, you waited a long time before actually telling us what had happened."

"It didn't exactly work out, you know. Both of you got trapped."

"I'm not saying it's exactly like that, and it wasn't even a date or anything. All I'm saying is you really shouldn't be questioning me right now. Just respect that I know what I'm doing, okay?"

Buttercup let out an agitated sigh and said, "Fine." She got up once more and moved to her own bed, and Blossom turned her attention to her phone once more. Still no messages. Something about that disappointed her. A moment later, she opened her phone and looked at the messages she had previously received from Brick. She was surprised to find herself getting nervous as she opened up the keyboard and stared at the small set of letters. Was it weird to try to talk to him? She shook her head and laughed internally at her own stupidity. Apparently they were friends now, and friends had no problems texting each other. Without any further hesitation, she typed a simple _**hey**_ and pressed send.

* * *

Brick was sitting in Mojo's living room playing video games on a brand new 50 inch flatscreen tv Butch had stolen while he was out when he heard his phone chime. He ignored it until the end of the virtual fight, but when he finally looked down at it, his cheeks tinged slightly pink. Damn it, that was happening to him way too much lately.

He sent back a brief response and turned back to the game. Butch held the other controller and was waiting to start the next match. Boomer was sitting wrapped up in Brick's blanket farther down on the couch, and kept sending Brick smug looks whenever their green-eyed brother wasn't looking. Brick tried to ignore it for the most part, but it was slowly getting on his nerves.

A door slammed behind them, and footsteps marked the arrival of someone else.

"I, Mooojooo Jojo, your father, have returned with the groceries. Now to make our dinner!"

The Ruffs ignored him, and he moved on towards the kitchen. Boomer got up to follow after the food, and Brick and Butch continued to play. The ginger won the match, as usual, and looked down to check his phone again only to find that he had misplaced it. He looked around on the couch and the floor in front of him and still found no sign of the device.

Something blue flashed at the edge of his vision, and her turned his head to see Boomer oh so casually leaning against a doorway and typing on a phone - Brick's phone. He shot up at his blue-eyed brother, who moved at the last moment to hold the device just out of his reach.

"What the fuck! Give it back," Brick yelled.

"Hold on, just let me send this," Boomer replied as he flew into the air before his brother could grab him. Brick followed after him, grabbed onto his shirt, and slammed him back down onto the ground. Butch stood up and threw his controller onto the ground. He began to shake with excitement. "Awesome, are we gonna actually fight now? Ima destroy both of you little girls."

Next thing they knew, all three brothers were a writhing mass on the ground, and Mojo had run back into the room screaming for them to stop.

"Nooo! You should not fight, because when you fight you destroy my things, and if my things are destroyed then I don't have anything to destroy the Powerpuff Girls with, because my own things are destroyed because of your fighting!"

Soon the brawl settled down, leaving Brick clutching his now cracked phone and glaring at Boomer, who was lying on the ground and laughing. Butch was sitting off to the side, still shaking and cackling at the destruction they had caused. Mojo was shouting "Curses!" as he looked around at the recently destroyed inventions.

Brick opened the messages on his phone, and looked for what Boomer had sent.

 _ **Can't wait to go out again babe ;)**_

Well, it could have been worse, but it pissed Brick off all the same. With a string of the most profane insults he could come up with, he launched himself at his brother once more. Butch joined back in with a holler of delight, and Mojo started scream curses once more.

On the other side of Townsville, Blossom stared down at her phone. Her cheeks had flushed a deep red color as soon as she saw the message. Perhaps she just misunderstood, but it seemed as though Brick had...no. She refused to think it. It was just a misunderstanding. She was putting too much meaning into a simple text. The screen of her phone went dark, but she continued to stare at it. Should she reply? She supposed that she should, but what to say?

Slowly, she unlocked her phone once more and opened up the keyboard. Her reply was sent before she could even talk herself out of it.

 ** _Haha, sure. Maybe soon_**

She threw her phone down to the end of her bed and leaned back, putting her hands over her face. Everything really was starting to spiral out of her control, and it seemed like all she was doing was encouraging it.

* * *

 _ **I actually crossed the 3,000 word threshold for the first time with this chapter, and for some reason that makes me really happy. I'm still having a lot of fun writing this, so I'll probably update again soon. As always, please let me know if you see anything that could be fixed. Thanks you so much for all the feedback and support so far!**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_


	5. Hey, look! Chapter 5 is here

"HELL YEAH, THREE IN A ROW!"

"Brick, calm down. You're going to call attention to us."

Brick set himself back down on the stone bench as Blossom began moving chess pieces back into their proper places. They had been sitting at one of the park's concrete chess tables for the past hour as Blossom taught Brick how to play. He had picked it up rather quickly, and soon began to be a real challenge to her. She would have to stop going easy on him pretty soon.

They had been meeting like this for over a month. Most of the time they hung out on their rooftop, out of sight of the probing eyes of Townsville's citizens. Occasionally, however, they ventured out into the public eye, mainly out of boredom. Last time they were together Brick had complained about the monotony of meeting on said rooftop, so when he called her that morning to see if she wanted to hang out that day she had suggested they go to the park instead.

'Hanging out.' That's what they always called it. Blossom had been very careful to not put any more meaning into it than that. It was bad enough that they were going out of their way to be friends with each other when they were supposed to be enemies. Anything more would have been far too complicated to handle. At least, that's what she had been telling herself for the past few weeks.

Of course, there had been a few moments where Brick would accidentally say something that might have a deeper hidden meaning and cause Blossom to spend a sleepless night wondering about...well, that was beside the point. Friends. They would leave it at that.

The two of them had actually become quite close in the past month. They had found the time to meet up every few days, usually only for an hour or two so that their families wouldn't be suspicious. Their phone conversations had also become much more involved, and for the past few days Blossom had woken up before her alarm went off because Brick 'was bored' and decided to blow up her phone.

They argued often, obviously. Some habits were hard to shake, and they couldn't help but press at each other's buttons whenever they could. Blossom found that she didn't mind nearly as much as before, though. Brick had actually apologized once or twice - a shocking turn of events. Besides, the insults they threw at each other were more playful than abusive now. More often than not Blossom had walked away from the argument smiling.

The chess board was now completely reconstructed, and Blossom was called out of her musings by Brick cracking his knuckles from the other side of the table. He sent her a confident smirk, one that showed he was sure of success. Blossom's own lips curled up in a small smile. Oh, no, she wasn't going to go easy on him this time at all.

Brick made the first move, and Blossom responded with one of her own. The pattern continued, back and forth, play after play. Blossom watched with some satisfaction as Brick's self-assured smirk fell into a grimace as the game wore on. Finally, she slammed her queen down in front of his king and sat back with her arms folded. "Check mate," she said with a smile. She saw his hands tighten into fists and his eyes grow dark as he stared down at the board. Blossom knew how much he hated losing; she also knew that such a swift defeat would bring out the competitive streak he had. Neither of her sisters liked to play, and she had long been awaiting a worthy opponent. Brick was the prefect candidate for such a thing; she only had to goad it out of him.

"Again," he muttered darkly, and Blossom began to set the board up with a smile. They played, and this time the game dragged out as both players carefully plotted against each other. She could see Brick was gaining the upper hand, and took to talking to him during each of his turns in an effort to distract him.

"Is that the same hat you had when you were younger," she asked him. Without looking up, he responded with, "Nope," and reached out to move his knight. Blossom stared down at the board and made her move, then set her eyes back on him.

"When did you get that one?"

"Get what," he asked, still staring hard at the game.

"The hat. You said it's not the same one you had as a kid."

Brick made his move and finally looked up at her. His shoulders raised in a shrug as he responded. "I outgrew that one. Mojo gave me this a coupla years ago. Said it was a birthday present or some shit like that. Even wrapped it. Course, he used a McDonald's bag instead of wrapping paper, so it smelled like ketchup for a while, but I didn't care. A hat's a hat."

"Do you always wear it?"

"Pretty much. Sorta like that stupid bow in your hair. Have ya ever taken that out?"

"Well, yeah. It's not like I sleep in it or anything."

"Exactly. You wake up and put it on every fuckin' morning, just 'cause. I betcha you don't even have to think about it - you just do it. Just like me and the hat."

Blossom nodded and glanced back down at the board. When she finally made her next move, she looked back up to find Brick still staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothin'. Just wondering what you would look like without your hair tied back is all," he told her. For some reason his answer made her cheeks tinge with pink. "The world may never know," she responded.

"Why not?"

"The bow doesn't come out and the hair doesn't come down. At least, not in front of other people. Just like you and the hat."

Brick's smirk finally returned. "See, that's the difference between you and me. I don't give a damn about what I look like to other people. The hat's just a habit. I can take it off any time a want."

"Then do it," she told him.

"What?"

"Put your money where you mouth is. Take off the hat."

"Fine," he said, and with a flourish he swept the cap off his head and threw it down on the table next to the board. His attention went back to the game, and Blossom was left staring at the top of his head as he looked down.

The hat had messed up his hair - or maybe it was naturally like that. She wasn't sure which, but she was mesmerized by it all the same. It was different from hers - much closer to an auburn color than the ginger tone hers had. It wasn't really shiny, either. Instead, the sun caught it in strange places, giving it a muted glow like a dying fire. The effect was rather nice, and Blossom found that it suited him quite well.

"Hey, I know I'm sexy as fuck, but we're still in the middle of the game. Quit staring and play."

Blossom's face flushed a deep red, and she snapped her head down to look at the board. Her heart rate had increased dramatically for some reason, and she took a couple deep breaths to calm herself. In her head she mentally slapped herself for zoning out like that. How long had she been staring? Geez, she must have looked like an idiot.

Had the girl looked up at that moment, she would have found Brick in a state similar to hers - mentally slapping himself for saying something so utterly cringey in front of her.

Blossom soon recovered enough to make her next move, after which she cleared her throat and looked back up at her opponent. He was staring at his own chess pieces, and the ragged cap was still sitting on the table next to the board. She reached out to grab it, and turned it around in her hands. Her playful smile returned she set it on her own head and slipped her ponytail through the hole above the Velcro straps. Brick looked up as she moved and watched with disbelief as his long-time companion settled itself on someone else's head.

"What the hell? Give it back!"

"No," Blossom responded with a smile.

"No, seriously. Give me my hat."

"No. You said you didn't need it, so it's mine now."

She had to shove herself backwards as his hand shot out to grab at the cap. Laughing, she floated into to the air and began to fly away, only to find a hand wrapping around her ankle and jerking her back towards the ground. She landed in to grass a few feet away, and suddenly Brick's face was right above hers. He was no longer grabbing at his hat, though. Instead, he was simply...staring. Blossom's laughter died out, and she found herself staring back at him. Without really realizing it, she leaned forward slightly. Brick's eyes widened, and he backed away.

"Um, ya know what? You're right, I don't need it. Why don't you just hold onto it for now? I-I gotta go."

Blossom blinked against the sudden blast of red light in front of her, then sat up and brushed the grass off herself. Slowly she walked back to the park table and began to clear her chess pieces off. For some strange reason her throat began to tighten uncomfortably and water started to blur her vision. She told herself it must just be allergy season again, and blinked until she regained her ability to see clearly. With the last of the game pieces put into her bag, she floated off in the direction of her home.

Once at home, Blossom threw her bag to the side and flopped down on the couch. She stared at the ceiling and fought back the throat-tightening feeling that threatened to overwhelm her once more. What was her problem? Why had she moved forward? What was she even trying to do? She sighed and slammed her head against the back of the couch a few times.

"Uhh, Bloss?"

She looked up to see Buttercup standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a strange look on her face. Blossom sat up fully so she could face her sister before answering with, "Hey Buttercup. What do you need?"

"I was just wondering...isn't that Brick's hat?"

Blossom's hand flew up to her head, and sure enough the ragged red cap was still there. Shoot, she had forgotten to take it off before she got home. Quickly, she searched for an explanation.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I...ran into him on the way home. Yeah, he was breaking into a...car! Yeah, a car, so I stopped him, and we fought like usual and I won, of course, so I took his hat and flew off. You know, to really...rub it in his face that I won?" Blossom had stammered through the entire explanation, and she could see her sister's eyes narrowing at her.

"Yeeaaah, okay. Whatever. How was your date?"

"It wasn't a date, you know that."

"Sure, sure. You ready to tell us his name yet?"

"Nope."

Buttercup watched as her sister leaned back on the couch once more. The ginger's explanation just somehow hadn't convinced her, and at the back of her mind there was a nagging feeling that maybe...nah. Blossom wouldn't do that. Buttercup shook the idea out of her head, and turned to walk back into the kitchen.

* * *

Brick was sitting on a dark fuchsia couch, bouncing his leg up and down and looking around nervously at the tvs floating along the wall in front of him. He could hear the soft clicking of his 'father's' boots as the lobster-man walked around the room before finally settling down on the couch next to him with a grand kick of his boot-clad leg. The demon set his chin on his claw and sent his son an exaggerated smile.

"Soooo, my dear boy, it has been faaar too long,"said the red man in his lilting, jarring voice. "May I ask what brings you here today?"

"Yeah, pops, listen. I was just wonderin'...remember when you brought us back and gave us those shots or whatever so the girls couldn't defeat us the same way as before?"

"Oooh, yes. I had been wondering when one of you dear boys would come asking me about that. Yeeees, I have just the thing for that. Same protection without the...drastic results."

Brick blinked in surprise at the ease with which his question had been answered. Damn, he hadn't even had to ask. He had seen Blossom earlier, just inches away from him, and suddenly he remembered that time when they were younger when she and her sisters had tried to defeat them for the second time, only to find that Him had made it where their kisses only made the boys stronger. He hadn't been sure if that's what Blossom was going for at the park, but he didn't want to risk that happening again.

Him's boots clicked through the room as the red man whirled around and dug through drawers. Eventually he returned to where Brick was sitting with a large needle in his claw. With a sadistic smile, he told Brick to roll up his sleeve. Brick did so with a grimace, and grunted as he felt the pinch in his arm. It always had to be a fucking needle, didn't it? The needle withdrew, and Him threw it over his shoulder before settling back down on the couch.

"Theeeerrre. Not so bad. Like I said, same protection as before without the drastic results. I always knew you boys would grow up some day, and it wouldn't do you much good if you inflated each time a girl got near you. I'm just surprised it took you this long. Sooooo, who's the lucky lady?"

Brick looked down at the floor; he had learned many years ago that Him was not a person he wanted to make eye contact with, especially if he was trying to hide something. With as nonchalant a tone as he could muster, he answered, "Nobody."

"Ooooohhh, a secret. I love a good old-fashioned secret romance. Don't worry, son. I won't tell a soul. It's not Princess, is it? I can't stand that little brat."

"No, not her...not anybody, really. Just didn't want anything to happen, ya know?"

"Sure, sure. Oooooh, this is so exciting. I can't wait to see how it plays out."

"You...You're not gonna be watching me or anything, are you?"

"Of course I am. I have to make sure you're doing this right. But don't worry, I won't watch anything too juicy. I just want to see all the cute stuff."

Brick's face flushed a deep red and he turned away so that the other couldn't see it. "Like hell you will! If I find out you've been keeping tabs on me or somethin', I'll...I'll..."

"You'll what? Send Blossom after me?"

Brick's heart began to beat faster and his face became even warmer. "H-how did you..."

"That ditsy brother of yours got mad at you and told me a few weeks ago." Him's voice grew darker and deeper, and his face hardened as he continued to talk. "At first I was angry, and I almost went to destroy her." The large smile returned and his voice reclaimed it's normal falsely soft tone. "But then you two were so sickeningly cute together, I just had to watch and see what happened. Don't worry, Mojo doesn't know. But I must say, I'm getting rather bored, so can you pick it up a little? I love a good drama, and you two being 'friends' just isn't cutting it for me. I need something interesting to happen, and soon."

Brick's mouth dropped open and he stammered a few inarticulate syllables before flushing red once more. Him's laughter shrieked in his ears, and the lobster-man began to speak once more. "No really, pick it up. Get out, I'm done with this conversation."

* * *

Blossom was sitting in front of the vanity of her room, thoughtfully running a brush through her hair. Bubbles and Buttercup were both out for the evening, so it was just her and her thoughts. Her bow lay in front of her, next to Brick's ragged red cap. She had showered recently and had yet to put her hair back into it's usual ponytail. Instead, she was simply brushing it over and over again.

A soft buzzing broke through her reverie, and she looked down at her phone to find a call from Brick lighting up the screen. Slowly and deliberately, she set down the brush and picked up the phone. She began with a simply 'hello,' though it was said in a more formal tone than usual. For some strange reason, the events of that afternoon still stung her pride a little bit.

Brick began to speak from the other end of the call, though his words were somewhat covered by the sound of wind hitting the speaker. Blossom figured he must be outside.

"Hey pinky, I was just...and I...wanted to...okay?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

She could hear him sigh on the other end, and this time when he spoke his voice was a little louder so that she could hear him over the sound of the wind.

"I'm outside your fucking house. Could you come out for a minute?"

Blossom agreed and hung up. She stood to walk out, but the red hat on the vanity caught her eye. With a small smile, she reached out to grab it and set it on her head before walking to the window and floating out.

It was a warm, breezy August evening, and the sun had just set behind her neighbor's houses. Brick was standing on the edge of the street in front of her on home, leaning ever so casually against the pole of a streetlight. He looked up and silently appraised her as she approached.

"You know, that hat doesn't really go with those pajamas."

Yep, she just had to be wearing those same stupid unicorn nightclothes that he had seen her in once before when they had met about a month ago. Genius, Blossom. Pure genius. She cursed herself internally for not changing before coming outside.

"What do you want?" She asked as she folded her arms and stared coolly at the red-clad boy in front of her.

"Just wanted to say sorry for spazzing out earlier. Also, I kinda want the hat back."

"No way, it's mine now. And besides, I don't really care about earlier. You've always been a spaz. It wasn't much of a surprise."

"Alright, well, as long as that's settled, I'll just take my hat and go."

"I said no. You took off without it, so you can't have it back."

"Why do you always have to be so damn stubborn? Look, how 'bout we make a trade?"

Blossom narrowed her eyes at him. She could see the smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, and she knew that usually meant trouble. "What kind of trade," she asked. He stepped forward, and now the smirk came out in full.

"Well, I was thinking that you would give me the hat," he said as moved even closer to swipe the accessory off her head. "And then in return, I could give you this."

He took one last step to close the distance between them before briefly placing his lips against hers. Seconds later, he broke away and shot off into the darkening sky, leaving a wide-eyed Blossom standing bewildered in the street, her cheeks aflame and her hair billowing slightly in the warm Autumn breeze.

So much for just being friends.

* * *

 _ **Hey. It took me a little longer than usual to get started on this chapter, so I compensated for it by making it a bit longer than usual. The ending made me feel kind of stupid because I wasn't sure how to write it without sounding like an idiot. I really hope I did okay. If you have any advice on how to write scenes like that, it would be very much appreciated.**_

 _ **Anyways, it's very likely that you'll be seeing a lot of me over the next couple of weeks. I'm going through a bit of a rough patch and I need something to keep my hands busy, and what's better for that than typing?**_

 _ **Once again, I want to thank you all for all of the feedback and support you've given me as I've worked on this. I really appreciate everyone who's given this a chance and kept up with it until this point. As always, if you have any ideas or see something that I could change or fix, please let me know! Thanks again!**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_


	6. Chapter 6

Blossom sat on the couch in her living room, unconsciously twisting the ends of her ginger hair around her fingers. She had left it out of its usual ponytail that morning, and it hung loosely around her shoulders and down her back.

It had been a lazy day so far, and she had spent most of it lost in thoughts of a certain someone and what the events of the night before would mean for their...friendship. Suddenly, a loud ringing on the second floor of her house disturbed her thoughtful silence, and she looked up to see Bubbles and Buttercup flashing down the stairs into the living room.

"Bloss, it's the Ruff's - they're robbing a bank. We really need to go," the brunette told her. Blossom tried not to let her smile break through as she stood up and zoomed out of the house with her sisters. She would get to see him today after all.

The trio made their way downtown to the unfortunate bank that had just been rid of its contents by the Rowdyruff Boys. With a small smile Blossom realized that it was the same bank the boys had been robbing the day of her and Brick's first civil encounter. She turned her attention to a familiar rooftop just across the street as her sisters shot off towards their usual opponents.

Just as she had expected, Blossom found Brick waiting for her in their normal spot with his arms crossed and a smirk lighting up his face. At his feet sat an old backpack filled with his takings from the bank. She landed lightly in front of him and mimicked his stance before saying, "You know, it's not very nice to steal. You should really give that back."

"Well," he replied, "this was going to be our food money for the month, but I might just be persuaded to hand it over if someone was willing to, oh, I dunno, make a trade for it."

"Hmm, that might work, but I'm not really sure what would be an acceptable thing to trade..."

"I might be able to think of something," he told her as he stepped forward. Her face warmed as she felt his arms snake their way around her waist; they were nose to nose now, and she could see every detail of his face. She noted that his eyes were not nearly as harsh up close - in fact, they were quite mesmerizing, with flecks of gold scatter throughout the irises.

"Y-you know, you really didn't have to steal anything to get my attention," she told him rather breathlessly.

"I meant it when I said this was our food money for the month. But my bros probably got enough that I can give this back. For the right price, of course," he said with a smirk. No, not a smirk. A smile. An actual genuine smile. If she hadn't been so distracted by the lack of distance between them, Blossom would have stopped to marvel at that as well.

The past month seemed pretty ridiculous now. How could she have been so stupid to have convinced herself that they would remain as friends? Of course it was going to end up like this. It had been inevitable, she could see that now. Had she really hated him just a few weeks ago? Something in the back of her mind - something that sounded oddly like her sisters - told her that she was being an idiot and she should be kicking his butt and taking the money back to the bank. It told her that he was her enemy and not someone she could trust.

She told it to shut up.

"So is the bow not a thing anymore? 'Cause I kinda like your hair better like this than tied back. You looked like a fucking librarian before."

"Hey, watch your language."

"Make me."

With that, the last of the space closed between them, and before Blossom could fully process what was happening her arms had swung their way around Brick's shoulders. Her face warmed and her heart raced at a pace that she had never know was possible.

"Hey bro, you should have seen it, I socked her right in the...HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN'?"

They broke apart and looked to their left, where Butch had just landed a few feet away holding two tattered bags stuffed with what Blossom could only assume was stolen money. His eyes were wide and glaring straight at her, and she could see his frame beginning to shake with anger. Next to her Brick was muttering, "aw, shit."

Next thing Blossom knew, she was being shoved behind Brick as he moved to stand between her and Butch, who had just begun to stomp over.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOIN' WITH THAT BITCH?" Butch was screaming and shoving Brick backwards.

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!"

"YOU CALL HER THAT ALL THE TIME!"

"That was before-"

"BEFORE WHAT? BEFORE YOU WERE SUCKING HER DAMN FACE OFF? WHAT THE HELL? YOU GOIN' SOFT ON US? Fuck, is this why you said we can't blow shit up anymore? 'Cause this little hoe gotcha whipped?"

"You call her a name one more time, and I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?! Call the cops? Get the other little Puffs down here? You can't do nothin'. You've gone soft, and you know it."

All of a sudden, Brick had thrown Butch backwards into the building across the street. When the green-eyed boy emerged from the wreckage, his eyes were practically glowing with anger. Blossom watched with her mouth hanging slightly open, thunderstruck at the chaos that was just beginning to unfold in front of her. A flash of green shot by her, slamming into Brick and carrying him across the rooftop. Finally collecting her wits, Blossom moved forward to help, only to be rammed with a force stronger than anything she would have believed possible. She felt a hand clamping down on her neck, and suddenly she was lifted off the ground and staring directly into a pair of blazing forest green eyes. He was trembling with anger, and his arm shook as he held Blossom up.

"So ya wanna screw around with my brother, huh? Ya think you can change 'im, dontcha? Or do ya just like it rough? Thought you might wanna try a walk on the wild side? 'Cause if that's whatcha want, I can give it to ya a hell of a lot better than this asshole over here can."

Something screamed angrily behind them, and Blossom was thrown to the side as Brick slammed into Butch once more. She clutched at her neck and gasped for air. Butch was much stronger than she had expected; she was briefly impressed that Buttercup had managed to hold her own with him for so many years.

A soft blue glow lit the ground as Boomer landed on the rooftop right next to her. She felt his hand grasp her arm and pull her to her feet. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and looked back and forth between her and the fight going on in front of them.

"Um, hey, this is probably gonna get a lot worse, so I think you should probably go or somethin'. Brick'll be even more pissed if ya get hurt, ya know?" Blossom nodded in response, and after one last worried glance at the flashes of red and green that were going off in front of her, she shot off towards home.

* * *

Blossom had arrived at her house to find Buttercup pacing through the living room and ranting about what an a-hole Butch was. She was sporting a fresh black eye that the chemical x in her system had not yet begun to take care of. Bubbles was slumped on the couch, but she sat up when Blossom walked in.

"Ohmygosh, we were so worried! Are you okay? Buttercup got hit pretty bad, I don't know if you can tell," Bubbles began to chatter. Blossom walked over to where she was on the couch and sat down next to her. She sat back and pretended to listen as both of her sisters talked at her.

Soon came a knock at the door, and Bubbles flew over to answer it. Moments later, Bubbles reappeared to announce Robin's arrival, and their long-time neighbor walked in behind her. The two of them sat at the dining table and began to talk. Buttercup was still walking in circles and muttering darkly about Butch and all the ways she intended to get revenge. Blossom took to checking her phone every few seconds, looking for some sign of Brick. She wondered if she should text him and make sure he was okay, or if she should wait for him to seek her out.

She had just decided that she would be the one to start the conversation when a message from the person in question flashed onto the screen.

 _ **Sorry about that**_

Short and simple, but it relieved Blossom to see it nonetheless. She opened up the keyboard and was about to respond when Buttercup's shadow fell upon her.

"Are you even listening to me," Buttercup asked as she reached out and snatched the phone out of Blossom's hand. "I'm not in the mood for your secretive crap. I want to know once and for all who the freak it is that you're going out with."

"Ooooh, me too!" Bubbles added from her spot at the dining table.

Buttercup was staring at the screen, her expression unreadable. Blossom stood and jerked the phone away from her as she said, "I told you, we're not going out, we're just...just..."

What were they?

"...just friends?" Buttercup asked in a low voice. Bubbles piped in once more, asking, "Wait, who is it? Can I see?"

"It's nobody, Bubs," Buttercup said in a dangerously quiet voice. "Blossom, can I see you upstairs for a minute?"

Blossom nodded and followed her sister up the stairs and into her room, ignoring the protests that Bubbles was sending after her. Her heart was pounding and sweat was beginning to bead on her forward. She kept replaying scenes of Butch and Brick launching themselves at each other, and she prayed desperately that Buttercup would be a lot more reasonable.

Buttercup shut the door once they were both inside of the bedroom and turned to face Blossom. Her arms were crossed and her expression was strained; Blossom couldn't tell if she was angry or upset or confused.

"So-"

"It's not what it looks like," Blossom cut her sister off before she could even begin. "It's just...we're just friends, okay?"

"Just friends? That's bad enough! Blossom, he's your _enemy_. You hate each other! How the hell did this even happen?"

Blossom hesitated momentarily before deciding that the truth was probably best. "Do you remember about a month ago when my powers went haywire for no reason?" Buttercup nodded, and Blossom continued. "Well, his did, too, but in the opposite we. We figured out that when we were together, it just...normalized, I guess."

"So, what? Are you just hanging around him because you're cold?"

"...Yes?"

"Bullshit. That ended weeks ago. Why are you still talking to him?"

"I told you. We're...friends, or something like that."

Buttercup was silent, and she moved over to sit down on the edge of the bed. Blossom slowly walked over and sat down next to her. The silence stretched out between them, and Blossom began to twiddle her thumbs anxiously. Finally, Buttercup began to speak again.

"What do you mean by 'something like that,'" she asked.

"Well," Blossom began. "I'm not really sure what we are right now. We're friends, but...not? We haven't really talked about it or anything."

"So when you say friends, do you mean friends, or _friends_?"

"...What?"

"You know what I mean," the brunette said.

"You're starting to sound like Bubbles," Blossom responded.

"And you're avoiding answering the question. What the hell, Blossom. Brick? Brick Jojo? The guy who's tried to kill you for the past, what, thirteen years?"

Blossom sighed. "I don't know what you want me to say about it. I can't really explain it myself."

"You realize I'm pissed, right?"

"Yeah, I figured."

Buttercup was silent once more. Hours passed, or maybe it was just seconds. Blossom couldn't really tell. Her sister rubbed thoughtfully at the now-healing bruise around her eye. "Are you sure about this," she finally asked.

"Nope," Blossom responded truthfully. Buttercup let out a deep breath.

"You know what, I'm not gonna say anything. I won't even tell Bubbles or the Professor. You just gotta do one thing for me first, okay?"

"Anything," Blossom told her.

"Tell me everything. And don't leave a single thing out."

* * *

Brick was lying on his back in a pile of rubble within Mojo's laboratory. Butch was sitting a few feet away, banging a rock angrily against the ground. Boomer sat cross-legged as far away from his two brothers as the room would allow. The red and green brother were still glaring at each other. Boomer had managed to drag the two apart from each other long enough for them to calm down, but the tension between them was still high and could give out at any moment.

The screen of Brick's phone lit up as a message from Blossom appeared. He opened it; it was brief and did nothing to calm his jangled nerves.

 _ **Buttercup knows**_

Well, damn it. Why not just tell all of Townsville? Suddenly another message popped up underneath the first.

 _ **Hey, I have a question**_

Brick let out an exasperated sigh, opened up the keyboard, and replied with **_what is it?_** Moments later, a response appeared.

 ** _What are we?_**

Fuck, there it was. Brick had no idea how to answer that question. He couldn't say they were friends, now could he? It seemed they had moved past that pretty quickly. So what the hell were they? He began to type: **_No idea. I guess it would be easiest to say we're-_**

The next word took Brick about three minutes to type out. **_dating_**

He stared at it for another minute or two before finally pressing send. One minute passed. Two. Why the hell was it taking so long for her to reply? He picked himself up and sat cross-legged like his brother, bouncing his knee in anticipation. Butch let out a hiss of annoyance before standing up and storming out, kicking debris out of his way as he went. Brick barely registered his absence.

Finally, an answer came.

 _ **Well, we would've had to have gone out on a date to say that**_

This was followed shortly by:

 ** _At least one that didn't have one of your brothers there_**

Brick smirked at his phone, and the knots of tension in his shoulder finally relaxed. He sent back _**Well, we'll just have to fix that**_ before standing up and stretching. He turned to his blonde brother and said, "C'mon, Boom. Let's go kick Butch's ass at video games. He didn't look pissed off enough when he left."

* * *

"Ugh. That's _disgusting_. Please tell me you're not being serious."

Blossom and Buttercup were lying on their stomachs, staring at Blossom's phone. Brick's reply had just appeared; Blossom was trying to fight back a smile while Buttercup was pretending to vomit over the side of the bed.

"I'm afraid I am."

"You know what, do what you want. But if I see the two of you even look at each other weird, I'm gonna barf."

Blossom laughed at her sister. So far, Buttercup seemed pretty okay with the situation, and Blossom was fairly happy with the outcome of their conversation. She had told her sister everything, just as her sister had requested, and Buttercup had listened in silence until the end. That was when she had asked the question Blossom had been asking herself since the day before: "If you're not 'friends,' then what the heck are you?"

Buttercup had been the one who had prompted her to ask Brick about it, and the two sisters had sat and stared at the phone together all through the digital conversation. Blossom was enjoying it - not just figuring things out with Brick, but also talking about it with Buttercup. Telling someone the truth had been strangely uplifting; what was more, Buttercup had seemed to accept it. Blossom had never been quite as close with her as she had been with Bubbles, and being able to share something like that with her green-eyed sister raised her spirits in a way she hadn't been expecting.

Overall, she had to say it had been a pretty good day.

* * *

 ** _I meant to publish this chapter a couple days ago, but I got sidetracked by one of the greatest love stories of all time: Pam and Jim from The Office._**

 ** _Sorry if this one seemed a little rushed - I just wanted things to pick up a bit. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please let me know if you have any comments about what I can improve on with this. And seriously, I have no idea how to write the mushy romance-y stuff, so if you have any advice on that, it would be much appreciated! Thanks!_**

 ** _-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-_**


	7. Wow, now there are seven chapters

Brick angrily scrubbed the milk out of his favorite red hoodie, mumbling curses under his breath. Him had come in right after he had taken a bite of his cereal and slammed his stupid red claw down on Brick's shoulder, causing him to choke and cough out the food in surprise. Finally giving up on trying to get his clothes clean, Brick threw the used paper towels at the red man's face. Him barely blinked as he daintily picked up the napkins and tossed them aside.

"I assuuuuuume you know why I'm here, dear boy?" There it was- that stupid, high-pitched, grating voice. Brick was not in the mood this morning. Butch had kept him up the night before with his constant bitching, and Boomer had been absolutely no help. All Brick wanted was to sit and eat a nice, quiet bowl of cereal. He should have known better than to expect that sort of luxury.

"Nope," Brick replied tersely. Him sat down on the other side of Mojo's dining table and folded his claws lightly in front of him.

"Weeeeell, last night I was watching the _loveliest_ little fight between you and dear Butch. When it hit a lull I got up to refill my popcorn, only to find that while I was away you worked up the nerve to ask darling little Blossom on a date. So you can see why I'm upset, can't you? You did something interesting and _I wasn't there to see it_." Him's voice grew dark and deep at the end of his speech, causing Brick to sit up straighter and set the spoon he was using down on the table. His red eyes met Him's directly as he responded.

"That's not my problem," Brick said. The glorified lobster sighed theatrically and threw himself back.

"Ooooh, believe me, I know. It seems that if I want to truly enjoy this I'll have to become a bit more involved. Which brings me back to your little date. There's sooooo much we need to do, and so little time to do it!"

"Hold up," Brick cut in. "What the hell do ya mean by 'becoming involved'?"

Him ignored the question and continued to speak as though he hadn't heard it. "I went through your closet already, and it was horrible. You would think that having a father with such a _wonderful_ fashion sense like I, some of that would have rubbed off on you. But noooooo, all you ever wear are t-shirts and flannel. I was soooo disappointed."

"Well, we can't all pull off the thigh-high boots like you, pops," Brick said while fighting back a small smirk. Him simply pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment.

"This isn't a laughing matter," Him snapped in his 'angry voice.' Then, shaking his head and putting on a false smile, he returned to his usual tone once more. "There's sooooo much that has to be done, and I don't think we'll be able to find the time to go shopping."

"What are you talking about? It's not 'til tonight. That's hours from now."

Him sighed once more. "Sometimes I wish I had daughters. A girl would much better appreciate what I'm doing right now. Then again," he said as he sent Brick a wicked smile, "if this goes well, I might just get the daughter I've aaaaaalways wanted." Brick sputtered and choked once more on the cereal he had just so happened to take a bite of at that very moment. Taking advantage of his son's inability to talk, Him continued to speak.

"Sooooo, we have to find an outfit, get supplies, buy flowers, find a place, get your haircut-"

"No," Brick snapped, still coughing. "I just got it cut and I ain't doin' it again."

"That was a month ago," Him said patronizingly. "Now we really do need to get going, or else we'll be too late." The demon-lobster stood and walked over to Brick, setting a claw on his shoulder. "It haaaas to be perfect. You can't mess this up tonight. I really do need a girl in this family to talk to, or else I'll go insane."

"Right, 'cause you're normal as fuck right now," Brick mumbled under his breath as he stood to follow his 'father' out of the room.

* * *

Blossom messed with her hair nervously as she looked in the bathroom mirror. There, it was set perfectly. Loose, wind-swept waves of ginger hair swept down her back. It was perfectly messy. Undone. Natural.

It had taken her over an hour to do.

She and Buttercup had been locked in their shared bathroom since the middle of the afternoon. The brunette had joined her for 'moral support', meaning she had spent the entire time lounging on the closed toilet seat and staring at her phone. Bubbles had refused to join them when Blossom wouldn't tell her who the date was with. Every few minutes the blonde found a reason to walk by the bathroom and turn her nose up at the sisters inside.

Blossom continued to fuss over herself, smoothing out her shirt, running her fingers through her hair, fixing an invisible smudge on her face. Buttercup rolled her eyes at the sight. "It's not that serious, Bloss," the green-eyed sister said. "Haven't you been out with him like a million times?"

"It's not the same," Blossom snapped back. "Those weren't dates, you know that. This is."

"Whatever. When are you leaving?"

"Around 6, I guess. I don't really know where we're going, or how long it will take. All he said was to meet him in our usual place."

"Well, if there's food involved, bring me back the leftovers, 'kay?" Buttercup stood and stretched, then sidled past Blossom out of the bathroom.

Blossom let out a deep breath and gripped the counter in front of her. Why was she so nervous? She and Brick had been hanging out for over a month. How was this any different?

The alarm on her phone went off in the other room. It was time to go. Blossom took one last look at herself in the mirror, turning to examine every inch of herself as possible. She didn't know what they were doing that night, so she had just dressed casually and hoped for the best. Knowing Brick, it wasn't likely to be anything fancy. Finally, Blossom left the bathroom and gathered up her phone, slipping her debit card inside the phone's case just as a precaution - if it came down to Brick stealing or her paying, she would much rather take the legal way out.

She slipped down the stairs and had almost made it out the door when she heard her name being called. With an agitated sigh, she turned towards the source of the noise. The Professor was happily trotting towards her, and set his hand on her shoulder once he was close enough.

"Oh, Blossom, wait just a moment. Bubbles told me that you're seeing a boy tonight," the Professor said with his usual smiling voice. Over his shoulder Blossom could see her blue-eyed sister smugly waving at her. Maybe not telling Bubbles wasn't such a good thing after all. The Professor continued speaking as Blossom glared at her blonde sister.

"Anyways, I was just thinking that I would like to meet him. I am your father, after all. So do you think he could come over for dinner tomorrow?"

"Wait, what?"

"Well, you see, as your father it is my responsibility to meet any boy you may be seeing and give my consent to the relationship." The Professor frowned and furrowed his brow. "If that's a problem, then maybe you shouldn't be going out tonight."

"Oh, um, no, Professor. That's not a problem." The Professor's smile returned.

"Good, then tell him we're all looking forward to tomorrow night!"

Blossom nodded and walked stiffly out the door. It slammed shut behind her. What had she just agreed to? If Brick showed up to dinner tomorrow she would be in so much trouble. Her worried thoughts carried her across town and kept her company until she landed on top of her and Brick's usual rooftop. He was already there, pacing back and forth across the stone surface of the building. When she landed he stopped and faced her, giving her half of a nervous smile. Before she realized it, a handful of bright red carnations were shoved in her face.

"I, uh, just...ya know...they were...girls think flowers are pretty, right? Aw, fuck, what am I doing? Sorry, it was just...stupid...whatever. You don't have to take them," Brick stammered nervously as his cheeks began to redden. His eyes refused to meet hers. Blossom laughed lightly and tried - and failed - to hold back a smile at his ramblings as she reached out and took the flowers.

"No, these are nice. I like them. Thanks. So...you clean up pretty nicely." Indeed, he had. His hair had somehow been tamed, his clothes unwrinkled and stain-free, and there was an overall sense of cleanliness about him that hadn't been there before. She had to admit, she liked it. She liked it a lot.

"Shut up," he told her, though a small smile graced his face at her compliment. "We gotta go or the food's gonna get cold, and I ain't heating anything up for you."

"Oh? And just where are we going," she asked. The smirk came out in full and Brick grabbed for her hand.

"C'mon, I'll show you."

* * *

They had ended up in the twilit park at the same concrete chess table they had occupied a few days before. This time, however, it was covered in a classic red-and-white gingham table cloth and held two covered plates, a couple of water -filled glasses, and a small softly glowing candle. Blossom found the overall effect to be quite splendid, especially when the plates were uncovered to reveal a beautifully messy pile of spaghetti for each of them. How he had known that it was her favorite food was beyond her - she didn't remember ever mentioning it to him - but she decided it was better to just accept the free food and not raise any questions.

Blossom discovered that Brick had spent much of the day assembling the dinner, and had even cooked the food himself. According to him there had been a special sale on spaghetti sauce that he couldn't pass up - steal one, get one free.

They spent most of their time talking, with the conversation occasionally being punctuated by the slurp of a noodle or the scraping of a fork on the plate. Most of their dialogue was just normal playful banter, until eventually Blossom worked up the nerve to tell Brick about what her father had said to her before she left the house.

"Hold up, you mean your dad, the Professor, wants to invite _me_ to your house for dinner," Brick asked for the third time while roaring with laughter. Blossom shook her head and allowed herself to smile at Brick's reaction.

"I told you, he doesn't know that it's you," she said. "He probably thinks your just some dumb kid I met somewhere."

"Oh, man, I can't wait to see the look on his face."

"Wait, so you're actually going to come over tomorrow?"

"You're damn right I am. I'm not gonna pass up an offer for free food. Besides, it's gonna piss your family off. I can't wait to see it. It's a shame Buttercup already knows, her reaction would have been the best."

They were both laughing now. "So does Mojo know yet," she asked him while taking a drink of water from her glass.

"Nah, haven't bothered to tell him. It would probably kill him. Him knows, though."

"Really?! And he hasn't tried to torture us yet?"

"Alright, this is gonna sound kinda weird - he's totally cool with it. Likes it, even. Says we need a girl in the family, or some shit like that," he told her

"Dang, I wouldn't have expected that."

Their conversation lapsed back into meaningless small talk for another few minutes before Brick cleared his throat and said, "You know what, pinky? I like you."

Blossom smiled. "Thanks, but I kind of figured that out already," she said with a small giggle.

"I know that. Just thought you needed to hear it."

They had both finished eating by that point, and Brick stood up and held out his hand. Blossom looked at it, then up at him questioningly. He rolled his eyes and told her, "We've been over this before. You're supposed to take my hand and get up."

"I know that, I was just wondering where we were going."

"Just walking."

"What about all of this," she asked, gesturing at the table in front of her.

"Leave it. Somebody else will clean it up."

"Brick-"

"Pinky, let's go. We always left a mess behind when we used to fight each other. Why should it be any different now?"

He had a point, though Blossom wasn't sure why it made sense to her. She had been spending way too much time with him lately. With a roll of her eyes she finally took his hand and stood up - something stirred slightly in her chest when she place her hand in his. Together, they began to stroll down the winding concrete paths of the park, talking and occasionally pushing or laughing at each other. Time flew past without either of them realizing it, and with a jolt Blossom saw that the moon was suddenly high in the sky above them. She told Brick she had to go, and they turned back the way they had come. They paused briefly at the table that had been abandoned by them earlier so Blossom could collect her little bouquet of flowers. When she turned to take off, though, Brick stopped her.

"I had fun tonight, little red," he told her.

"Me, too," she responded with a heartfelt smile. "But you know that's not my name."

"Sorry. Old habits die hard." They were inching closer, and Brick's voice had dropped to nothing more than a gravelly whisper. Blossom could feel small goosebumps forming on her arms, and warmth began to rush to her face.

"It's okay. It's better than...um...you know-"

"Are you gonna shut up so I can kiss you, or are you going to ruin this for me?"

"I guess I'll shut up," she whispered back.

"Damn right you will," he told her before closing the last of the space between them.

* * *

Blossom and Buttercup had been whispering in the corner of the living room since the moment the former had come home. Bubbles would occasionally send them hurt glares because they were leaving her out, but most of her looks went unnoticed by the two sisters as Blossom filled Buttercup in on everything that had happened that night. The ginger was unable to keep the large smile off her face for more than a few seconds, while the brunette was constantly rolling her eyes. Eventually, Buttercup asked whether or not Brick was going to come over the next day; Bubbles had told her what the Professor had said to Blossom before she left. With another smile, Blossom told the other that Brick had insisted on showing up.

"So he's actually coming over tomorrow," Buttercup asked Blossom once more.

"Apparently so," the pink-eyed sister replied. Buttercup clapped her hands together and laughed as she pictured the scene.

"Damn, that's gonna be _great_. I can't wait to see what the Professor's gonna do."

"You know, that's funny. Brick said the same thing when I told him," Blossom replied.

"So it's really real. You're actually dating a fucking Rowdyruff." Buttercup shook her head in disbelief.

" _Language_. And, yeah, I think I am. Haven't we been over this before?"

"Yeah, but...don't take this the wrong way...what the hell? How did this happen?"

"I've already told you that more than once, Buttercup," Blossom replied with a huff.

"I know, I know. Just... _damn_. That's kinda badass. He's a villain."

Blossom chuckled and shook her head, not bothering to reprimand her sister for cursing. Her attention was called away from the conversation as her phone chimed from the coffee table. She reached out to pick it up and found a new message from the red-eyed boy himself.

 _ **Hey, what time am I supposed to be there tomorrow?**_

Blossom opened the keyboard and responded with: _**Around 6, I think**_

A few moments passed, and a new message saying **_Can't wait_** popped up onto the screen. Blossom smiled down at her phone before setting it back down and turning towards her raven-haired sister once more.

* * *

Brick hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, and the next day passed in an exhausted blur. Before he knew it, 5 o'clock had come and gone, and it was time for him to head over to the Utonium household. Briefly he checked his reflection in a bathroom mirror on his way to the front door. He looked shaggy and unkempt - just the way he liked it. With a smile he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. Perfect. Just what every father wanted showing up on their doorstep.

He dropped his hat onto his head as he walked down the hall and out the door, not bothering to say goodbye to his brothers. They both thought he was insane for doing this anyways. Butch and Boomer had been laughing at him all day, and commenting on how only a fucking idiot would just walk into the Powerpuff's house. Call him stupid, then. He was on his way over.

The flight there was quick and easy. Knocking on the front door, though, was much harder. Brick knew he looked dumb, just standing there in front of the house, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to knock. He took a few calming breaths; what the hell was he getting so nervous about? It wasn't like he could make a good first impression or anything. He already knew Blossom's family didn't like him - there was too much bad blood between them already. So why was he getting so nervous?

He shook off the feeling. Fuck it, he didn't care what they thought. All that mattered was that he show up for Blossom. Besides, this should be fun. He assembled his face into its usual cocky expression and raised his fist to the door. After a minute of insistent knocking the door swung open to reveal Blossom, who gave him a nervous half-smile. "Hey, I was starting to think you weren't going to come," she told him. He laughed lightly and invited himself in.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world. Nice place," Brick said as he looked around the living room. It was just him and Blossom at the moment.

"Thanks. You really don't have to do this, you know," she told him as his eyes finally settled on her.

"Babe, you know that I do," he said, and shot her a smirk. He could see her face flush slightly as her eyes ducked away from his.

"Don't call me that," she mumbled. He let out a snort of laughter, and stepped forward to wrap an arm around her waist and set his forehead against hers.

"Why not? It's better than Pinky, isn't it? Besides, you know you like it."

Blossom was spared of replying by the entrance of the Professor, who swept into the room wearing a pink apron over his lab coat and carrying a steaming casserole dish.

"Blossom, dinner's about ready. When will...your..." The Professor's mouth dropped, and the casserole dish tipped over dangerously in his hands.

"Wait, is he here, is he here?" Bubbles shot into the room behind the Professor, but stopped short at the sight of her sister standing so close to Brick. Blossom pulled away from him and looked down at the ground. Brick, however, put on the biggest, most arrogant smirk he could muster and stepped forward with his hand outstretched to the Professor.

"Hey, I'm Brick. Brick Jojo. But you probably already figured that out."

* * *

 _ **Sorry it took me a little longer to update this time. There was this one awful moment where I was about 1,000 words into the chapter, when my computer froze and reloaded before I had saved a single word of it. Needless to say, I was a little bit upset. A few days later I had written about half of this, but I wasn't sure how to end it. Then, when I finally figured out what I wanted to do, I logged on to find that Mrs. RoseGold had updated "Lycan", and I couldn't do anything until I had caught up with that. I ended up re-reading most of it, just 'cause it's that freaking good. Let me tell you, that girl can write.**_

 _ **Also, sorry about any and all typos in this chapter. It's after three in the morning right now, and somehow it's becoming kind of hard for me to tell the difference between 'there, their, and they're'. For some reason, I work better in the dark - or at least I think I do. Most of what I write happens at night, and I almost always have to go back in the morning and edit out mistakes that I swear were not there (their? they're? thare?) the night before. If you're reading this before that happens, I'm so sorry.**_

 _ **Anyways, updates might be a little bit slower over this month. I want to spend a little more time with Overcoming Obstruction, and I have a couple other things that I'm working on as well. There's quite a bit that I want to get done before school starts up again.**_

 _ **As always, thank you all so much for all the feedback and support that I've gotten. It really means a lot to me. Until next time!**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_


	8. And now there are eight chapters

Abhorrent. Appalling. Disastrous. Ghastly. Gruesome. Harrowing. Horrendous. Blossom had her phone hidden under the dining table and was scrolling through a thesaurus for new synonyms for the word 'terrible' in an effort to retain some semblance of sanity and control.

The moment Brick had introduced himself the casserole dish that the Professor had been holding tumbled to the ground, sending baked ziti across the living room and splattering everyone within. Bubbles threw up her fists and had fired off a few blasts of blue energy before Blossom could convince her that Brick wasn't there to attack them. Buttercup had run into the room at the sounds of chaos, slipped in the fallen casserole, and burst out into a loud fit of laughter at the situation.

As soon as he had been able to compose himself - or, in other words, regain the ability to speak - the Professor picked up the phone to order pizza; for some reason he still insisted on having a dinner that evening. Blossom and her sisters went upstairs to change out of their soiled clothes, where Bubbles had confronted Blossom about bringing a Rowdyruff Boy to the house and yelled at Buttercup for not telling her about it before. By the time her rant was over and the three of them trooped back downstairs, the blonde was stubbornly ignoring both of her sisters.

They now found themselves sitting in an awkward silence at the dining table - the living room being to messy to sit in at the moment - waiting for the pizza to arrive. Twenty minutes had passed, and still there was no sign of the food. Buttercup was looking around at everyone's expressions and chuckling to herself, Bubbles refused to look anywhere near her sisters, the Professor was trying his hardest to force a smile at Brick, and Blossom had her head in her hand and was staring down at her phone.

Brick, however, appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. He was humming lightly and looking around pleasantly at his surroundings. Blossom heard him mumble, "Nerd," and looked up to see him leaning over and staring down at her phone. "Shut up," she muttered back while shoving him away with her shoulder. She did, however, slide her phone into her pocket and sit up a little straighter.

The Professor cleared his throat and attempted to speak for the first time since Brick's arrival. "So, uh, Brick...ahem, how, uh, how is your family?"

A mixture of expressions were shot at the Professor at his question, the most striking of which belonging to Brick, who looked around incredulously before laughing lightly and responding, "They're doin' alright. I think my brothers were planning on hitting up a few b-" Blossom sent Brick a sharp look, warning him not to continue, "...libraries...while I'm out, and Mojo's off doing...something."

"Oh, um, that's nice." The Professor was nodding and once more trying to force a smile on his face.

"Wow, libraries. I didn't know you guys could read," Buttercup said while forcing back another round of laughter. Bubbles's wide blue eyes were swinging around at her family members in shock.

"Um, are we just not going to talk about the fact that there's a _villain_ sitting at the table?" The blonde had whispered the word villain, as though it were a curse. "I mean, we've been fighting his entire family for a while now, but just because Blossom has a little crush on him we're just supposed to be fine with it? Well, I'm not! I've always thought that Boomer was cute, but you don't see me sneaking around with him."

"Hey, is it cool if I tell my bros about that Boomer thing? I think they'll get a kick out of it." Bubbles glared at Brick, who was spared of her response by the sound of the doorbell.

Three different voices yelled out, "I'll get it," but it was Brick who actually stood up. "No, let me. I've caused a bit of trouble already. It's the least I can do."

All the Utonium's were shocked at Brick's apparent politeness, and nobody said anything as he stood and went to the front door. They heard the front door open and a few mumbled words before the door was slammed shut and Brick reappeared with a couple of pizza boxes balancing in one of his hands. The boxes were slid onto the table as he resumed his position next to Blossom.

As the others dug into their dinner, Blossom leaned over slightly and whispered to Brick, "Did you actually pay the delivery guy?"

She saw the corners of his mouth twitch slightly. "Would you believe me if I said I did, or should I just not bother with lying," he whispered back.

"Brick!"

"What? Free pizza _and_ I made a good impression. How is that a bad thing?"

"So Brick," Buttercup cut in from across the table, "what do bad guys do when they're not being bad guys? I've always wondered."

Brick's mouth twitched once more, as though he was holding down a smile. "Normal stuff, ya know. Like blowing things up, setting things on fire, catfishing people on the internet, committing tax fraud, causing ten car pileups on the freeway. That sort of thing."

The room was silent for a moment, before the Professor let out an anxious laugh. "Oh, hahaha, yes. That sounds very...interesting. I'm sure we'd all love to hear more about...those things...some other time."

"He wasn't being serious, Professor," Blossom told him.

"I was being serious about some of those things," Brick mumbled. Blossom shot him a stern look, though he simply winked in return.

"What's the most expensive thing you've ever stolen?"

"Buttercup, you can't just ask things like that," the Professor chided.

"What? I'm just trying to make conversation," the green-eyed girl replied.

"So Buttercrap - oh, sorry, that's what Butch calls you - I guess you're a Townsville Titans fan," Brick said, gesturing towards the jersey she was currently wearing.

"Heck yeah! Number one team in the country," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, they suck," he deadpanned. She bit back, and soon the two were engaged in a back and forth concerning various teams, Brick always finding some reason to disagree with what Buttercup said. The conversation was lost on the others at the table, but it did wonders for easing the tension that had pervaded the atmosphere up until that point. By the time the Professor went to the kitchen for dessert, Blossom was feeling relatively comfortable with the situation and Bubbles looked marginally more cheerful.

As the evening neared its end, and Blossom found herself thinking that while dinner hadn't gone perfectly, at least it hadn't been worse. That was, until the Professor offered to walk Brick out. The moment the two left the room, she slammed her face down on the table. It seemed that the Professor was going to give Brick one of his 'dad talks.'

Blossom heard a couple of chairs scrape across the floor, and looked up to find that her sisters had run to stand near the doorway and were trying to listen for what the Professor was saying. With a sigh, Blossom stood up and walked over - hey, if you can't beat them, join them. All three of them pressed their ears against the door; in hindsight, their superhearing rendered this action completely unnecessary, but something about doing it just seemed fitting for the situation.

It seemed that Brick and the Professor were standing in the living room, and the latter was clearing his throat to begin speaking.

"Ahem, yes, well, it was lovely having you over Brick, but I think there's something we need to discuss."

"Alright, lay it on me."

"Okay, well, this wasn't exactly the evening that I was expecting, as I'm sure you're aware. The thing is, I just don't think I'm very comfortable with you seeing Blossom. I'm sure you can understand why, given your history," the Professor said with a small, nervous laugh. Back in the dining room, Blossom's face fell. She hadn't been expecting the Professor to like the situation, but now that she was hearing it out loud she found the hard truth disappointing.

"Ooooh, this is gonna be one of those things, isn't it? Alright, let me save you some time and cut to the chase. One, it ain't up to you, and two, I don't give a shit - oh, sorry - I don't give a _crap_ about what the rest of y'all think. As long as Blossom wants me, I'm gonna stick around."

The Professor's flabbergasted silence rang through the house for a few moments before he composed himself enough to answer. "Well, that's nice, I guess. But it's my duty as a concerned parent to tell you that if you dare hurt my little girl-"

"Yeah, well, I don't think that's gonna happen, pops. Honestly, if anything does happen it'll probably be the other way around, so...moot point. Now is that it? I gotta get goin'."

"Oh, um, yes, I suppose that's all."

"Cool. Thanks for the pizza, man."

They heard the front door open and shut, signalling Brick's departure. When the house fell silent, Blossom straightened and looked up to find both of her sisters staring at her. She cleared her throat and turned to face Bubbles, saying, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I just didn't want -"

"He defended your relationship! That is sooo cute!" Bubbles flew forward to wrap her arms around her shocked sister.

"Wait, but...I-I thought that you were mad about it," Blossom stammered out.

"I'm over it. That was so five minutes ago. Did you hear the way he just stood up for the two of you," the blonde gushed. "And he talked sports with Buttercup and got the pizza and he was staring at you like the _entire_ time. It was adorable! I ship it so much!"

"Yeah, that could have gone a lot worse," Buttercup added.

"So you really don't mind it," Blossom asked.

"Of course we mind, but, like I said, could be worse. Coulda been Fuzzy," Buttercup replied with a shrug.

"Ewww, can you imagine that," Bubbles chimed in. "Ugh, how would someone even kiss that? WAIT, have you in Brick already kissed?"

Blossom felt her cheeks turn pink, and she mumbled, "None of your business."

"That means she has," Buttercup said as she walked back to the dining table to pick up the now-empty pizza boxes. "Gross, Bloss. Now I'm gonna be picturing that for the rest of the night."

"Oh my gosh, I want to know EVERYTHING," Bubbles squealed.

"Thanks, Buttercup," Blossom said. The girls felt silent as the Professor re-entered the dining room.

"Well, Blossom. Not the best choice, I must say," he said with a sigh. "I'm not so sure about this."

"Professor, I'm eighteen, I've already graduated, and I start college in a month. I think I can decide who to date."

The Professor sighed. "Well, it's hard to argue against that logic. But I really don't feel comfortable with this. I don't want that boy in the house, okay?"

"I wasn't the one who invited him over tonight," she retorted.

"Don't take that tone with me. And I don't like the idea that you would have tried to hide this from your family."

"Oh, she didn't," Buttercup jumped in. "I knew about it a while ago."

"Why didn't you tell me," the Professor exclaimed. Buttercup just shrugged it off.

"Didn't think it was that big of a deal. Besides, he seems to be treating her nice enough, dontcha think?"

The Professor rubbed his face with his hands and sighed once more. "Alright. I seem to be outnumbered here. But Blossom, I want to know exactly when you're with him and where you are from now on."

"Yes, Professor," Blossom said, turning her face so that he couldn't see her roll her eyes. She had no intention of telling him anything of the sort.

"Oh, wait, Blossom?" The Professor had walked over and set his hand on the ginger's shoulder. "He hasn't done anything...inappropriate...has he?"

"Ew, oh, wha-Professor, no!" Blossom's face turned beet red, and she could her Buttercup sniggering behind her.

"Well, I just had to make sure!"

"NO! Just...just go to bed, I'll clean everything up, okay?"

With a sigh, the Professor agreed and turned to head upstairs to his room. Blossom turned and found her sisters sharing a smug look behind her back.

"C'mon, let's just get this cleaned up," she told them. Buttercup put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and, with a look of feigned concern, said, "Now, Blossom, you haven't been doing anything inappropriate with this boy, have you?"

"Seriously?" Blossom shook her head and moved on, leaving her sisters giggling behind her.

* * *

The next few days passed by quietly. Blossom had spent most of the time out enjoying the nice August weather with Brick. She now found herself lounging on her couch, reminiscing on a particularly lovely afternoon she had spent with him that day when the hotline began to ring upstairs. Bubbles's mumbled voice could be heard answering it, and soon Blossom was greeted by the sight of her sister floating down the stairs towards her.

"That was the mayor's office. They just need to talk to us about something real quick," Bubbles told her.

"Oh, okay. Where's Buttercup?"

"Out with some friends, I think. It didn't sound too urgent, so we probably don't have to bother her."

"Alright, just give me a moment to grab my shoes." Soon, the two sisters were out the door and flying off towards Townsville City Hall. There, they were greeted by Ms. Bellum, as usual, and led inside to the Mayor's office.

"Oh hello Blossom, there you are," the Mayor greeted her in his sputtering voice. Ms. Bellum sat down nearby and told Bubbles, "You know, we really only need to talk to Blossom, so if you have other things to do you don't have to stay."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Bubbles replied. "I think I'll stay. I wasn't really doing anything today anyways."

"Okay. Well, Blossom," Ms. Bellum began, "it has come to our attention that you've been spending a lot of time with Brick of the Rowdyruff Boys. We've heard some reports of you two being sighted together in a few different places around Townsville. According to these reports, your interactions with him were rather, er, friendly."

"Oh, yeah, they're dating now," Bubbles told her. "Aren't they cute together?"

"Yes, well, that's the problem," the Mayor bumbled. "They're too cute!"

"No, Mayor, that's not the issue," Ms. Bellum said sternly. "Blossom, you have to understand that this is a little concerning for us."

"Wait, what," Blossom asked.

"Given his track record, we feel that it would be a conflict of interest for the two of you to continue seeing each other. I'm sure you understand."

Blossom was taken aback. "No, I'm afraid I don't understand. What are you trying to say?"

Ms. Bellum hesitated and turned - futilely - towards the Mayor for assistance before answering, "We think it best if you suspend your Powerpuff duties for the time being."

"WHAT," both Blossom and Bubbles yelled at the same time. Ms. Bellum sighed and shifted uncomfortably. "We just feel that if you're under any sort of influence from a known threat to our city that it may cloud your judgement in some circumstances. The Rowdyruff Boys haven't quit crime, we have records showing numerous misdemeanors from the past month alone. If you're just going to turn a blind eye to that, then there's no telling what else you may let slip under your radar."

"You can't seriously believe that I'll show that kind of favoritism," Blossom shot back. "I have given _years_ of service to this city, and never once have I given you reason to question my judgement. How dare you start now."

"That may be true, but this an entirely different situation."

"But she's our leader," Bubbles shouted. "What are we supposed to do without her? There are some things we can barely handle with all three of us fighting. Now you're going to cut us down to just two people?"

"We would reconsider the decision if Blossom were willing to end her relationship with Brick," Ms. Bellum stated firmly.

"You've got to be kidding me," Blossom insisted. "It really can't be that big of a deal."

"Look, Blossom. You may trust him, but we don't. He's done too much damage to the city. We can't rest knowing that any favoritism on your part might allow for further crime. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. We'll give you a day to think about it, okay?"

"I can't believe this," Blossom said. "You're seriously going to try and stop me from being a Powerpuff Girl?"

"If it comes to that, then yes, we will."

Blossom nodded angrily and turned to leave without another word, Bubbles following closely behind. As they neared the door, the Mayor called out, "Wait, girls. Can one of you open this pickle jar for me?" Blossom stopped and glared over her shoulder at him.

"I'm sorry, but don't you think it's a conflict of interest for me to be aiding you when I'm being so heavily influenced by a villain?" With that, Blossom and Bubbles stormed out, slamming the door behind them.

* * *

"So that's it? You can't exactly give up being a Powerpuff!" Buttercup was ranting and pacing around Blossom's bedroom. Blossom and Bubbles had just filled her in on what was said at the Mayor's office, and she was as angry as they were.

"I know I can't, but what do you want me to do," Blossom asked. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her head in her hands; she had a splitting headache, and Buttercup's exclamations weren't doing much to sooth it.

"Break up with him," the brunette yelled.

"She can't just do that, Buttercup," Bubbles told her softly.

"No, really. Just pretend to, and see him secretly. The secret thing worked out before, didn't it," the green-eyed sister suggested.

"Yeah, but it didn't," Blossom replied. "We weren't exactly flaunting it before, and they still found out. I bet they'll be watching out for us now, the little freaks." She sighed and rubbed at her temples.

"What are you going to do," Bubbles asked.

"I don't know," Blossom muttered. "I really like him, but I've been a Powerpuff Girl my whole life. I can't just quit now because some people downtown are getting pissed off for no damn reason."

"Daaaaaang, that's the most brutal thing you've ever said, leader girl," Buttercup said with a laugh. "Maybe Brick really is 'influencing' you."

Blossom shook her head - bad idea. It felt as though her brain smashed against her skull each time she moved. "Sorry, I think I'm getting a stress headache. Do you mind if I just lie down for a while?"

"Oh, sorry. No problem," Buttercup said, and she and Bubbles got up to leave the room. As soon as the door shut, Blossom leaned back on her pillows and rubbed at her forehead.

What the heck was Ms. Bellum thinking? She had no right to pull something like that on Blossom. Hadn't she proved time and time again that she was trustworthy and loyal to the city? Blossom would never let what was going on with Brick affect her duties as a Powerpuff Girl.

Then again, she had let Brick get away with stealing a few things. But were spaghetti sauce and pizza really that big of a deal? It wasn't grand theft auto or anything.

What was she supposed to do? She mulled over the two options for what felt like hours, unable to arrive at a clear conclusion. She refused to stop seeing Brick. On the other hand, she knew that she had only recently come to like him like that, but she had been a Powerpuff Girl for as long as she could remember. Blossom groaned and sat up, looking around her room for answers. Nothing came to her.

Her eyes fell on her phone, which had been lying on her bedside table until that point. Slowly she pulled it towards her and unlocked it. For a moment she stared down at a conversation she had been having with Brick earlier on that day. Biting her lip, she opened the keyboard, typed a short message, and pressed send.

 _ **Can you meet me soon?**_

Moments later, two messages appeared from him.

 ** _Of course._**

 ** _Same place as usual?_**

* * *

 _ **Hello! If you happened to read my little 'Yellows' one-shot earlier this week, then you'll know that this is "Update Week" for me. I decided to start with this story because it's the most fresh for me, and I'm going to try to have new chapters for the other two on Friday and Saturday.**_

 _ **I think I ought to warn you, I don't see this story going on for too much longer. I have a couple more chapters in mind, but I don't want to stretch it too far and have it spiral out of my control. It has been really fun and I've enjoyed writing this so far, so I'll be sad to see it go, but c'est la vie. All things must come to an end.**_

 _ **As usual, thank you all so much for giving this story a chance and sticking to it! I really appreciate all of y'all and the support that you've given me in this endeavor. You're all amazing! Thanks again.**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_


	9. The ninth chapter

Blossom sat on the old familiar rooftop, staring down at the city life below her. She was twiddling her thumbs nervously and trying to take deep, calming breaths. The warm August air was blew gently against her face and stirred up her bangs into her eyes. She swatted the hair away irritably. Where the heck was Brick? She had texted him nearly half an hour ago. He should have been here by now.

Just as she thought that, a hand came down on her shoulders and a pair of legs swung over the edge of the building next to hers. Brick's arm snaked its way around her waist, and she could practically feel the smirk he was directing at her.

"Twice in one day? Really can't get enough of me, can ya babe?"

Blossom shook his arm away an mumbled something about "her name not being babe." Brick let out a breathy laugh.

"Is this 'cause I'm a little late," he asked. "Sorry 'bout that. I swung by Taco Bell and picked up some of those cinnamon twisty things you like." He shook a paper bag in front of her. "I even paid for it this time! You shoulda seen the look on the cashier's face when they saw me standin' at the counter. Aw, man, it was priceless."

"Sorry Brick, I'm just not that hungry right now," Blossom said, her shoulders sagging with each word that came out of her mouth. She didn't see it, but for a moment a look of genuine concern crossed Brick's face. He shrugged it off almost immediately and tossed the fast food bag behind him.

"Whatever, you don't have to eat 'em right now," he told her.

"Actually, Brick, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, refusing to meet his gaze. Her thumbs were wringing around themselves furiously now, and her feet began to swing back and forth in the air in front of her.

"Okay, shoot," he said slowly. Blossom could hear from his voice that he was beginning to feel the tension around her. She took a deep breath before beginning to speak once more.

"So, today Bubbles and I went to the Mayor's office, where Ms. Bellum brought up something that was a little bit upsetting."

"Oh man, I'm sorry. What was it?"

"She-she said...she said that she had heard about us and...and that she didn't really trust you, and that...and that she didn't think that I should be a Powerpuff Girl if I'm with you."

"Wait, what? What the hell!? They fired you? They can't fire you! You're the fucking leader of the Powerpuff Girls! You can do whatever the hell you want! What the fuck? They can't do that to you! Do you want me to go kick their asses for you? 'Cause I will. And I'll enjoy it, too."

Blossom took a deep breath and tried to smile at him, but all she could manage was a small spasm of the muscles around her mouth. "I-I don't think you understand. They didn't fire me. They gave me an option."

"What do you mean?"

"Brick, I...I'm sorry."

She was met with a dangerous silence; the calm before the storm. There was anger bubbling there beneath his eyes, and the warm red tones of his irises became suddenly more menacing.

"What. Do. You. Mean," he spat out each syllable, his mouth barely even moving as he spoke.

"You know I can't give up being a Powerpuff Girl," she told him, her voice apologetic. He moved away from her and stood up. She followed suit, and turned to find him beginning to pace back and forth across the rooftop.

"So...what you're telling me...is that when it comes down to me versus your status a fucking Powerpuff, I'm the one that gets the boot," Brick said slowly. Blossom took another deep breath.

"Well-"

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, BLOSSOM?! So am I just not good enough for you? Is your little hero act really that important?" His voice was raising, and each word barely concealed the anger that he was trying to keep from building.

"That's not it! I've just...I've been a Powerpuff literally my whole life! I was one before you were even born! How can I give that up?"

Brick stopped pacing and clenched his fists. His back was turned to her, but she could hear him taking a few deep, slow breaths. When he turned to face her, his face was surprisingly impassive.

"Okay. Okay. So why can't we just, I dunno, keep this a secret or somethin'? It won't bother them if they don't know," he suggested. She was shaking her head before he even finished the sentence.

"It was kind of supposed to be a secret in the first place, and they still found out. Now they're going to be watching for us. It has to end."

His eyes closed and his mouth pressed into a hard line. Blossom stared at him nervously, waiting for the outburst that she was sure was coming. Instead, he surprised her with a calm response.

"So...so why not just take a break from the hero thing? Show them how much they really need you. Let 'em come crawling back when it crashes down around them. You've been fighting their battles for years. Why not take a chance on something else?" Brick's voice was different from usual, almost pleading. Blossom felt her eyebrows knit together, and pressure started to build behind her eyes.

"You know I can't do that," she whispered.

"So, what? Are we supposed to go back to being enemies now?"

"No! Of course not. I couldn't possibly fight you now. I can't risk hurting you," she insisted. He let out a snort.

"Really? 'Cause your doin' a pretty good job of it right now," he told her. There it was - the pressure behind her eyes became to much, and warm tears began to spill over. She shoved her eyes shut and slammed the palms of her hands into them. Footsteps approached her from the other side of the rooftop, and a hand was placed on her shoulder. For a few moments Brick's thumb moved in comforting circles against her shoulder and Blossom was about to lean her head against his arm when he shoved her backwards.

"Stop it. STOP IT! You're not allowed to fucking cry right now," he yelled. She stumbled and looked up at him in shock. His face was twisted, his brow furrowed and his mouth set angrily. "You're the one that chose this! You can't just...you can't do this to me."

"Brick, listen-"

"No, you listen. I know it hasn't been all that long since this - since _we_ started, but dammit, I woulda thought that you would like me enough to show me just a little damn respect! But then you pull this crap out on me, and then you start cryin' like _I'm_ the one who's trying to end this! It ain't fucking fair!"

"What do you want me to do," she yelled back, wiping the residue from the tears off her face.

"Go back down there and tell them to shove it up their asses!" He took a step forward, and there was just a few tense inches left between them.

"I told you, I can't just do that."

"Why the hell not? I would've done it if someone had given me a choice like that!"

She stopped and shrank back. "You-you would have?"

Brick backed away from her. "Guess it doesn't matter, though, does it? 'Cause you made your decision, right? Dammit, Butch was right. I really was just screwin' myself over getting into this." He started to take off into the air.

"Wait, Brick. Wait! Come back," she called after him, to no avail. Soon the streak of red he left behind dissipated, and she was left by herself. Blossom sank to her knees and kneaded at her eyes with the heels of her palms. The wet tears were slipping down her face once more, and there was nobody there to comfort her.

* * *

In a curiously red room, Him sat on a couch staring at a large television screen. His claw had stopped halfway towards his mouth, which was currently hanging open, and a few pieces of popcorn slipped from his grip and fell onto the floor. Oh, hell no. This was not the ending he had signed up for! Angrily, he threw the popcorn bucket onto the ground and stood up, pacing with his claws clasped behind his back. This was not the kind of drama he had wanted.

Him shook his head furiously. Obviously, if things were to smooth out the way he wanted them to, he would have to step in and pull a few strings. He sighed bitterly. Why did he have to do everything himself?

* * *

Blossom was curled up against one of her pillows. About an hour ago she had dragged herself from the rooftop back home and settled down in her bedroom to have a good old fashioned cry out; had she really made the right choice in this? It really didn't matter whether or not she had - what was done was done, and she couldn't take it back.

She had just exhausted herself of tears and was on her way towards drifting off to sleep when something shifted her bed slightly. Blossom shot up and gasped as she saw Him casually sitting on the edge of her bed and flipping nonchalantly through one of her books.

"Oh good, you're done," he trilled, throwing the book down and turning to face her. Her mouth hung open slightly, and she began to scoot back defensively, her mouth set and ready to scream for her sisters' assistance. Him merely rolled his eyes at her and clamped a claw over her mouth. "Ugh, I'm really not here for you to screech at me. Actually, I'm here on business." Blossom's curiosity peaked, and she sat up straighter. Assuming that she was not going to scream at him anytime soon, Him removed the claw from her mouth and spoke once more. "You see, I was watching you and Brick earlier-"

"You were WHAT," she shrieked. One of his claws shot out and smacked at the side of her head.

"Be quiet you little brat," he scolded in his demon voice before placing what he thought was a friendly smile on his face and reverting back to his usual tone. "You wouldn't want to wake your dear sisters, would you?" His question was greeted by silence, which he took as an invitation to continue. "Like I was saying, I was watching you two earlier, and, I must say, I'm really not that satisfied with the outcome. You really could have handled that much better."

"What was I supposed to do," she asked, throwing her hands up into the air. "I was given an ultimatum!"

Him tsked at her and shook his head. "My dear, you made the wrong decision. You were supposed to fight for him! Instead you were the damsel that distressed him. I simply cannot have that; I'm too invested in this relationship to let it go that easily."

"Okay, first of all, what the heck is wrong with you, creep? Secondly, do you really expect me to just give up everything that my life has been based around since I was five years old? Do you really think that I could just let go of it that easily for a guy that may or may not work out?"

"Yes," was Him's blunt reply. Blossom shook her head at his answer.

"Of course you would say that. I'm sure you would just love it if the Powerpuff Girls lost a member."

"Well, yes I would, but that's beside the point," Him told her with a wave of his hand. "I wouldn't be here right now if that was the only thing I wanted. Silly little girl, don't you realize that you've just let what could have been the love story of the decade slip past you?"

Blossom eyed the androgynous lobster warily and muttered out a single, "What?"

Him sighed; Blossom's incompetence was starting to wear on his nerves. "Picture it, a boy and girl, destined to be enemies, yet against all odds finding love on the battlefield. Standing up to the rest of the world hand-in-hand and not caring about the opinions of others. Instead of fighting each other like they were born to do, they fight _for_ each other. It really is very romantic, isn't it," he trilled. She was still looking at him strangely, and he sighed once more. "Or at least it was until you went and ruined it. Look, let me work my magic a bit-" he wiggled his claws at her "-and you go win him back, okay?"

"What do you mean by 'working you magic'," she asked. He sent her a devious smile and began to chuckle darkly.

"You'll see, my dear. You'll see." The room began to fill with swirling red smoke, and soon Him was swallowed up. Blossom was left on her own once more.

She reached out and turned the lamp beside her bed on. Had Him really just visited her to tell her to get back together with Brick? Did he really watch their argument? Her expression became horrified as she wondered just how much of her time with Brick he had been watching.

Unconsciously she pulled her blanket closer to her. The thought of Him watching her had caused goosebumps to begin forming on her arms. Soon, however, she realized that it was not Him's creepiness that was giving her chills; no, it seemed that her room had become uncommonly cold. Gathering her blanket about her, she slid off her bed and walked out into the hallway. She tiptoed over to the thermostat silently - her family had all gone to bed for the night, and there was no sense in waking them - and checked the temperature. A warm seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit. Her eyebrows creased; that couldn't be right, she was freezing.

Suddenly, it dawned on her. What had Him told her a few minutes before? "Let me work my magic," or something like that. Blossom turned and walked back into her room, where she sat down on her bad. The temperature around her steadily dropped. Aw, heck. She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly what Him intended to do.

She reached out for her phone - she noticed that her hands were beginning to shake with the cold - and pulled it towards her. Hesitantly, she unlocked it and opened up her contacts. Soon she was staring down at Brick's name. After a minute of staring, she dialed the number and held the phone up to her ear. One ring. Two. Three. Voicemail. She tried again - and this time it went straight to voicemail. It seemed he really didn't want to talk her. Well, he had a pretty darn good reason for that. Blossom let out a disappointed sigh and threw herself backwards onto her bed. Did she really think it would be that easy? Perhaps she should try again in the morning when he had time to cool down? She chuckled to herself. If she was sinking into another cold spell, then surely something similar was happening to him. There would be no 'cooling down' for Brick tonight, it seemed.

She rolled over and snuggled down into her bed, trying to find sleep. After a few minutes she was shivering, and none of the blankets were doing her any good. Sleep would be impossible. Blossom groaned in frustration; why the heck did Him think this was a good idea? Ugh, he was probably enjoying her discomfort, too. What a freak.

Blossom sat up and pulled out her phone one more. She called Brick four more times - nothing. It seemed that if she wanted to talk to him, it would have to be face to face. She got up once more and wandered into her closet to pull on some warmer clothes. Once dressed and wrapped up once more in her blanket, she stole out the window and into the night sky. Briefly, she paused over Townsville and stared down at the city. Where would he be right now? Mojo's? Probably. She set off towards the volcano, and all to soon found herself standing shakily outside the large metal doors of the monkey's laboratory. For a few minutes she sat there, shivering with the cold. Was this a good idea? Well, she had already made it this far. Might as well see it through.

With a shaky hand, she knocked on the right-hand door and waited. The household was silent. After a few minutes, she knocked once more. This time she heard shuffling footsteps and angry muttering coming from the other side of the door. Moments later it swung open to reveal a rather disgruntled Mojo Jojo.

"Who dares disturb the sleep of me, the great Moooooojo Jojo?" His eyes widened as he took in the sight of a shivering Blossom standing before him.

"Um, hey Mojo. Is Brick there," she asked, receiving no answer to her question. It seemed that Mojo was frozen to the spot, and wouldn't move even when Blossom shook her hand in front of his face. More noise came from inside the lab behind him, and Boomer came around the corner into view.

"Hey Mo', who's at the door," he asked as he approached. Like Mojo, he froze when he saw Blossom standing there.

"Hey, Boomer," she said nervously. "Your brother wouldn't happen to be there, would he?"

Boomer shook off his surprise and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Um, yeah he is, but I don't think now's a real good time."

"Please?"

He bit his lip and glanced backwards nervously. "He's not exactly doin' so great right now. I don't think it's a good idea for you to see him."

Blossom's shoulders slumped. "I just...I just needed to talk to him for a minute."

Boomer sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, alright. I guess you can come in." He turned slightly and gestured awkwardly into the lab. Blossom stepped inside, knocking Mojo over in the process. Halfway down the hallway, however, Boomer held out an arm in front of her to stop her from going any further.

"Look, I dunno why you're here, but you messed up my bro real good tonight. If you even think about pulling any more of that shit, Imma kick your ass to hell, okay?"

She smiled slightly, though there was no amusement behind it. "I understand. Just please let me talk to him."

He sighed, and with a shrug began to lead her down the hallway and into the lab beyond.

* * *

 ** _I'm updating this a little sooner than I thought I would. Really, I wasn't planning on working more on this until I had done updates for the other couple of stories I'm working on right now. I had intended to update my other two stories last week, as many of you know, and I had done quite a bit of work on them, especially Overcoming Obstruction. I had gone back and revamped some of the previous chapters and started working on a new one. Hundreds of words and hours of work, and then..._**

 _ **My lovely wonderful beautiful laptop decides to crash.**_

 _ **I don't mean one of those "the screen went blank and I had to turn it off and back on" kind of things. Oh no, that would be too simple. First of all, it wouldn't log me on to my account; instead it kept putting me in a temporary one where I couldn't save any files or access anything of mine. THEN, whilst I was in the middle of trying to correct this issue, my lovely lovely laptop decides to update itself, followed by a disk check that lasted a couple of hours. When all of that was over, I was left with an hp logo sitting above one of those pretty little loading circles that went around and around and around for ten minutes before switching to a blank screen. I could see my mouse moving around, but that was it. Later this screen would be adorned with a box bearing the message, "unknown software exception (0xe0434352) at location" (sorry, I can't remember the exact order of numbers and letters for the location.)**_

 ** _At this point you may be thinking, "Wow Julie, but how are you typing this if your computer is broken?" Well, I was eventually able to fix it. Here's the kicker; it took freaking forever. Both problems had a few relatively simple fixes. Problem is, a lot of them involved going to start and going here and selecting this that or the other. Can't exactly do that if the only thing on the screen is my lonely little mouse, now can I? I did try plugging the computer in to an external monitor to see if it was an issue with the screen; it wasn't, and all the other monitor showed was the mouse moving around on a black background. Soon after, I was briefly faced with what might have been the blue screen of death, but that crisis soon abated. _**

**_My other options included pressing f8 at the startup and fooling around with things from there. The problem? I have Windows 10, which has a startup time so fast that it is nearly impossible to press f8 in time for it to actual do anything. So there I was, starting up my computer over and over again and pressing f8 as quickly as I possibly could until something happened._**

 ** _By the time I fixed my computer, I had done a soft reset, a hard reset, tried to put it back in the last known good configuration (to no avail), done a BIOS recovery, and pressed f8 a million times. Finally, f8 did something and I tried to do a system restore; it lasted three hours, told me there was an issue, started the restore over, then turned itself off. More pressing of f8. A little more fiddling around (figured out how to slow down the bootup time, which helped a lot). Finally did a full factory reset. The reset started a before 6 pm. Sometime after 10 it was pretty much done. I had lost everything and had to pretty much start over from scratch with my computer. Nothing was left._**

 ** _Needless to say, I had lost all of that work I put into Overcoming Obstruction, as I had not yet saved it onto my account here on this site - a mistake I will never make again. From now on, I will be saving everything I write into my Doc Manager more often than I saved my progress on Skyrim. Forget update week, I'm just so frustrated that I really don't want to look at that story for a couple of days. I just feel tired when I think about it. I'll get back to it in a few days. For the time being, it looks like I'm back to this one! Yay?_**

 ** _Sorry about the rant. I'm just a little frazzled right now. :/_**

 ** _Aside from that, OH MY GOODNESS I can't believe this has gotten over thirty favorites! I can hardly contain how excited I am about that. Thank you all soooo much for all the support and the feedback you've given me. I really really appreciate it!_**

 ** _-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-_**

 ** _ps- Please forgive any and all typos. This was written between 1 and 3 am._**


	10. I guess this is chapter ten

Blossom followed a few steps behind Boomer into the interior of Mojo's lair. She could feel her hands shaking, and tried to convince herself that it was just from the cold. That excuse, however, was not able to explain why her heart was trying to beat it's way out of her chest.

Before she knew it, they had moved beyond Mojo's lab space and down a hallway that she had never paid any attention to before - anytime she had gone into Mojo's lair in the past she had found herself in the lab. Although, now that she thought of it, she supposed it made sense that they would have a living space somewhere in the building.

Boomer took her down to the end of the unfamiliar hallway and into a large den. Blossom cast her eyes around the room and took in the surprising comfort of it; she was startled to find that it looked like a normal living room. Somehow she had expected some sort of dungeon or lair. This room was actually...cozy.

Her eyes eventually landed on two figures sitting on a couch in front of a large television. Their backs were turned to her, but she recognized Butch's wild hair and Brick's wonderfully unkempt auburn locks. The two of them were talking to each other in a low murmur, and Blossom could not quite make out what they were saying. Next to her, Boomer cleared his throat, effectively calling the attention of his two brothers, who turned to look at him. Brick's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Blossom standing behind him, while Butch stood up quickly and hopped over the backside of the couch, landing with a clumsy thud in front of the pink-eyed girl.

Blossom took a step backwards as Butch continued to moved towards her. His entire frame shook and his eyes darkened with anger. Soon his face was mere inches from hers, and his hand shot out to her neck and held her in place, squeezing just hard enough to hurt.

"What is this _bitch_ doin' here?" A little bit of spit shot out of his mouth and onto Blossom's face as he spoke. She tried to take a deep, calming breath - it wouldn't help her at all to get angry and fight back - but Butch's hold was increasingly getting stronger.

"May I speak to your brother, please," she croaked out, the words barely forcing their way past where Butch's hand clutched her throat.

"Hell no. I'm not 'bout to let your crazy bitch ass-"

"Butch, just let her go," Brick cut in. His voice sounded oddly hoarse - more so than normal, at least.

The dark-haired brother let her go with a shove before stalking out of the room, grunting obscenities as he went. Blossom rubbed at her neck and shifted her eyes back to Brick, who refused to meet her gaze.

"Get outta here Boomer. I gotta talk to our _guest_ ," Brick said with his old familiar sneer that Blossom hadn't seen or heard since the last time they fought as enemies. Boomer hesitated, then backed out of the room in the same direction as Butch.

As soon as they were alone, Brick rose from the couch and turned to face Blossom, though he still refused to look her in the eyes. "What do you want," he spat.

Blossom pressed her lips together and looked down at the floor. She hadn't actually thought about what she was going to say. Brick began to tap his foot, the sound only serving to add to the tension that was quickly building in the room. Finally, Blossom spoke.

"Look, about earlier - I guess I wasn't really thinking about you or...or us. I was only thinking about myself. Do you think that we can try to talk about this again?"

Brick gave a contemptuous snort. "Talk? I think you've said enough. It ain't my fault that you're a prude-y lil' Puff who can't handle a little bit of adventure. Sorry that I tarnished your reputation or some shit like that. Don't worry, I won't do it again."

"Brick, wait. There has to be something we can do. Surely we can work something out, right?"

"Seems to me like you've already got somethin' worked out. So why the hell are you still bothering me about this?"

"Really, Brick, I just-"

"Just what? Don't you think you've done enough tonight? You already told me that you don't give a shit about me. What more do you want to do to me?!" Brick's voice had risen to a yell. Blossom closed her eyes and searched for something - anything - to say. This time, however, words failed her.

"Get out of here," Brick said quietly, his voice coming out as a mere croak. "Please, if you care about me at all, just go."

"No," she said authoritatively. He looked up in surprise as she continued to speak. "You remember why all of this started, right? Well, Him thought it would be a good idea to mimic that situation until we could work this out. We still need each other."

Brick sighed. "So that's why it's so fucking hot in here? Dammit, I thought the air conditioner broke again. Whatever, doesn't matter. So you're here to use me again, is that it?"

Blossom's eyes widened. Shoot, she had come across as a pompous jerk again, hadn't she? Geez, what was her problem. "No, wait, that's not what I-"

"Whatever. Here-" Brick tossed her the blanket she had once given him, "take this. I sure as hell don't want it anymore. And for the record, you may need me, but I don't need you. I can...I can chew on ice cubes or some shit like that until Him gets bored of this. Anything is better than being forced to run back to you."

Blossom nodded, her face creasing with sadness as she turned and ran from the room, wiping at her face as she left. Brick sank back down onto the couch as soon as he heard the door slam. He placed his face in his hands. It really was hot as hell. Dammit, even his eyes were sweating. He swiped at the offensive drops of water that had leaked from the corners of his eyes and shook them off of his hands. Yep, sweat. That was what that was.

* * *

Blossom's pink streak shot unevenly through the sky and, to be quite honest, she wasn't entirely sure what direction she was going in. Her eyes stung and her vision was blurred - she thought it must be an especially windy night. Eventually she gave up on her flight and settled down on the edge of a random skyscraper, rubbing her face with her hands. Now that she was no longer moving, she noticed the goosebumps flaring up on her arms. It was freezing. She looked ruefully at the blanket in her hands before slowly wrapping it around her shoulders - the blanket she had been using earlier had fluttered away when she took off, and she really just wasn't in the mood to go after it. Her nose wrinkled as the soft material settled around her; ugh, the blanket one smelled like boy now.

The wind was no longer whipping at her face, but her eyes still stung and watered. Angrily, she swiped at them. What the heck was wrong with her? Had she really just screwed up twice in one night?

No, not twice in one night. It was no longer nighttime, after all; the sun was just beginning to peek out from behind the buildings across from her. The gleaming white stone of Townsville City Hall caught Blossom's eye, and she frowned at it. She sat there staring angrily at the building as the sun climbed slowly into the sky. All of a sudden she realized what a stupid, stupid building it was. A stupid building with stupid people inside. How dare they put her through this...this...crap, after all she had done for them?! They had no right, the dumb fools.

She caught sight of Ms. Bellum entering the building, followed shortly be the Mayor an other city officials. The sight of the two of them made her blood boil almost enough to warm her up again.

Without realizing what she was doing, Blossom slid off the building she had been sitting on and floated towards the stupid City Hall. People shot her strange looks as she approached; she supposed she must look a mess, what with her unbrushed hair hanging around her and her wrinkled pajamas and her excessive shivering. Oh well, she didn't care what they thought. She just continued on inside of City Hall.

She retraced the steps she had taken through the building hundreds of times over the years, soon finding herself entering the Mayor's office. The Mayor and Ms. Bellum looked up in surprise at her sudden entrance, but quickly recovered and sent her polite smiles as she approached the desk at the back of the room; she refused to return the favor.

Soon she was standing in front of the Mayor's desk, gripping the blanket around her. What was she doing here? Vaguely, she registered Ms. Bellum talking to her, but she didn't really care what the woman was saying. Instead, Blossom was thinking about the night before, when Brick had told her what he would have said to them if they had made him choose. With a small smile, she cut off Ms. Bellum mid-sentence with, "Hey, remember what you told me about the Brick thing?"

"Oooooh, have you made a decision," the Mayor asked excitedly.

"Yes," was Blossom's simple reply. The three sat in silence for a moment before Ms. Bellum quietly asked, "Well, what is it?"

Blossom's smile widened and she let out a small giggle before saying, "Go shove it up your asses." Both the Mayor and Ms. Bellum froze as Blossom turned and shot out of the room.

* * *

"YOU SAID THAT?!"

Blossom was sitting under the newly re-formed blanket pile on her bed with both of her sisters lounging on the bed next to her. She had just finished telling them about all the events of the past night and where she had gone that morning, and had received two entirely different reactions from them in return. Buttercup sprawled out on her back howling with laughter and pounding the bed with her fist, while Bubbles's eyes were wide and her gasping mouth was being covered by both hands. "Blossom, you...you can't just tell people to shove it up their butts! Especially not the _Mayor_ ," Bubbles exclaimed.

"Tell me, were those your exact words," Buttercup gasped as she sat up, her laughter in a momentary lull. Blossom looked down bashfully and mumbled, "I said asses, not butts." Buttercup threw herself backwards on the bed once more in a renewed fit of cackling. Bubbles looked astonished, as though she had never heard such language in her life.

"I agree with Him," Buttercup said as she calmed herself down once more and wiped the laughter-induced tears from her eyes. "Y'all need to work this out. Brick's obviously a good influence on you. After all, you're always trying to expand your vocabulary. Seems he was able to teach you a few new words."

Just then, the hotline began to ring and all three sisters turned to stare at it. After a few seconds, Bubbles lifted herself off the bed and went to pick up the receiver. Blossom could hear faint mumbling voice speaking rapidly from the other end of the line, interrupted occasionally by small comments from the blonde girl. Eventually, Bubbles hung up the phone and turned to face her expectant sisters.

"So, umm, Fuzzy Lumpkin is throwing a temper tantrum downtown and we're supposed to go and stop him. But, they...um, well they asked Blossom to stay home."

The room was silent for a few moments before Blossom answered with, "Well, I guess that means they fired me. You guys go on. Good luck."

"You sure about this Bloss? Honestly, just say the word and I'll sit this one out with you," Buttercup said. "I'm tired of cleaning up this crap anyways."

"No, no. You go on. Somebody has to take care of the town. Besides, it's just Fuzzy. You really don't need my help for that."

"Well, if you're sure," Bubbles said slowly, "then I guess we should get going."

"See ya later Bloss," Buttercup called back as she and Bubbles flew out the window.

* * *

The calls on the hotline followed a similar pattern through the next week, with either Bubbles or Buttercup answering and always telling Blossom that she was asked to 'stay behind' again. It seemed that Townsville's villains were beginning to notice Blossom's absence, as the crime rate had started to pick up significantly. Blossom refused to allow herself to be bothered by it - if the city officials were really going to be that stubborn about it, then they could suffer for all she cared. Instead, she used her new free time to get ready for her first semester at Townsville University. Since it seemed she wouldn't be called to action any time soon, she had decided to stay on campus instead of at home. A few days before the move-in date, Blossom had walked into her room to find a pink note written in swirling, bold letters sitting on her bed that read the following:

 _ **Blossom, it seems my plan has failed. Don't worry, we'll win him back yet. Xoxo -Him**_

As she read she felt the sensation of cold that had gripped her for the past week slipping away, though this time it was quite unwelcome. She sat on her bed and put her hands in her head. For the past week she had been hoping that Brick would decide to forgive her after all in wake of Him's intrusion. With the dissolution of Him's little spell came the abandonment of what little hope she had left.

Blossom had been trying for days to contact Brick, but it seemed he was ignoring her completely. She supposed she couldn't blame him for it, but his avoidance of her did more than sting. It caused an almost physical pain. Her mood had steadily become worse, and she had begun to search for synonyms for the word sad. Melancholy, gloomy, depressed, grim, trite, sorrowful, wistful. Pensive; there, that was an adequate word for it. However, this time she found no relief in finding the proper description for her situation.

Her sisters had noticed that Blossom's downcast mood and were careful to avoid any mention of the subject, which was something that she appreciated greatly. There had been a few times when the Rowdyruff Boys had disrupted the town, but they kept their mouths closed about it in case it upset Blossom. They needn't have worried - Brick was never there with his brothers when they went out on the town.

Blossom set the note down on her desk and wandered over to her phone. She picked it up slowly and stared at it for a few moments before unlocking it and going to her contacts for the second time that day. Her heart rate began to pick up as she sought out Brick's number and called it. It went straight to voicemail. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together in a firm line - he had been ignoring her for days. It shouldn't bother her this much anymore, should it?

She figured she may as well begin packing for her move while she waited for her sisters to return, and moved to her closet to grab a pile of clothes. Once her hands were full of hangers and materials, she moved back to the bed and began to fold. She was so lost in her thoughts and the mindless folding of clothes that she didn't notice the pebbles hitting the window until one of them managed to shatter the glass and scare her. Carefully, she got up and picked her way past the broken glass that now littered her floor and peered out the window for the source of the intrusive rock - and let out a gasp. There, standing in her front yard with a casual smirk and the light of the setting sun dancing on his hair was -

" _Brick?_ "

* * *

 _ **Sorry that this one is a little bit shorter, but I wanted to put in an eleventh chapter because I don't like ending on an even number, and I had to save some source material for it.**_

 _ **I'm back! I just wanted to give y'all a brief update real quick. It's been over a month since I updated anything, and what a heck of a month it's been. I initially intended to finish this two weeks after its last update; I had gone out of town for a week and I figured that when I returned I would continue writing. However, I got hit with a bunch of things I needed to do before school started. This is going to be my first semester of college, and I wasn't expecting how much I had to do before school even began. Once that was all cleared away, I thought that I would be able to get back at it again, but then other things happened which I would rather not talk about right now, and my update schedule got pushed back again.**_

 _ **Once more, sorry for the delay. I hope you can understand. Thank you for your patience, and I'll see you on the next update.**_

 _ **-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-**_

 _ **p.s.- I went back and read my author's note from the last chapter and it sounded really...whiny. Sorry about that. However, I don't want to delete it because that seems a little childish. It has already been written and seen, and I'm not going to pretend I didn't put it there. I admit that there are things more important than a computer crashing, and it really wasn't worth ranting about. I'll try to avoid putting such trivial things in my author's notes in the future.**_


	11. The Last Chapter

Blossom froze, her ribs practically cracking under the pressure of her pounding heart. It was him. Brick. Standing there in all his smug glory, his customary smirk playing at the corner of his lips. He was...she couldn't even find the words to describe it. It was just too perfect, him standing there in front of her house, waiting happily for her to come down.

A brief flash of anger shot through her as she remembered how he had ignored her for days and left her to her own, miserable self. But the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come when she was hit with the full force of his wonderfully annoying smirk. Suddenly, Blossom found herself dashing from her room and running for the front door, so euphorically happy that he had finally come to his senses that she completely forgot her powers. Soon the door was flung open and she hurled herself into him, taking in his gruff laughter and the heavy hand that was patting her back.

She stepped away from him, puzzled. Something was off, but she couldn't quite tell what. Maybe this was a dream? But no, he seemed so real, and she really wasn't creative enough to dream up something like this. But still, there was something...

The doubt left her as he reached out to grab her hand and spoke to her in that rough voice she had missed so much. "I'm happy to see you, too, but I really can't stay for long. Meet me on top of out building later, please?" Blossom nodded in response, and he took off right in front of her. She stood where she was for a long time after that, staring in the direction he had disappeared in, wondering if he had really been there at all. What had he said to her? Something about meeting...

Her eyes widened and she sped back inside the house. If she was going to meet him, she sure as heck was going to look nice.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT FUCKING GOING?"

Brick sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Butch, look-"

"NUH UH. SHE MAY BE THE QUEEN OF THE BITCHES, BUT YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN OFF YER ASS IN DAYS. I'M TIRED OF IT! I DON'T DO FEELINGS, BRO, YA KNOW THAT. YOU'RE JUST BRINGING US DOWN!"

"Ya know, he does have a point," Boomer quietly added. Brick's glare cut through him as he spoke, and cringed before continuing.

"I'm just sayin', you've been kinda...I dunno, sad? Anyways, it ain't fun watching ya cry-"

Brick, in an almost invisible flash of movement, had crossed the room and grabbed his brother by the throat, holding Boomer just inches away from himself as he spat, "I. Don't. Cry."

Boomer's eyes widened in fear. Brick dropped him and mumbled, "Idiot," as he walked back to the place on the couch he had been occupying for the past...three days? Four? He hadn't really kept track of the time much lately. His butt was halfway to making contact with the couch when he was thrown off his feet.

"DAMMIT, WE'RE GOIN' DOWN THERE!" Butch yelled in his ear as he slung the red-headed boy over shoulder and began to march out the door, ignoring the protests coming from the leader of their group.

* * *

Having spent over an hour going over every inch of her face and hair to make sure it was as presentable as possible, Blossom emerged from the bathroom and skipped down the stairs. Her sisters, who had been watching the television from the couch, looked up in surprise at her apparent sudden change from the somber mood she had been in for days. She could hear one of them - she didn't really stop to process which one it was - start to ask her a question, but the front door had shut behind her before it could be finished. Questions could be answered later. Brick had asked her to meet him, but had not given her an actual time, so she had to get to their rooftop as soon as possible so she wouldn't miss him.

About halfway to downtown Townsville, she noticed her hands shaking. Judging by Brick's mood when she saw him before, she had assumed he was ready to talk things out. Now, she was questioning this assumption. Brick wasn't exactly a talker. Words were more of her kind of thing. Maybe he was going to tell her to leave him alone. The thought almost made her turn around and fly straight back, but she had already arrived at the building. Might as well just wait and see, she figured.

The rooftop was empty, so she placed herself on the ledge and looked out on the city. The sounds of the cars and people below were rather muffled from this high up, and the wind was blowing softly. It was rather peaceful, and she found herself closing her eyes and leaning backwards slightly to bask in the early evening moonlight.

Her silent reverie was broken by the sounds of an argument approaching her from behind. She turned just in time to see Brick being dropped unceremoniously unto the rooftop behind her. A question formed in her mouth, but was cut off as a large hand encircled her throat. Butch's green eyes stared down at her in annoyance as he practically shouted at her. "Ya did this, now fix the dumbass. I'm tired o' him."

Green flashed in front of her, and suddenly she was alone with a seething Brick, who was dusting himself off from the fall.

"I swear, I'm gonna kill that motherf-"

"Brick?" Blossom asked quietly. "Are you okay?" His eyes looked up to meet hers, anger pulsing from their depths. The change in his mood from earlier shocked her.

"What d'you care?" he asked as he turned away from her.

"I do care, though," she whispered, just loudly enough for him to hear. He sighed and, without turning around, told her, "Look, I'm just here to tell you to leave me alone, okay? Showing up at my house earlier was not okay."

Blossom blanched, then looked up in confusion. "I-I don't...what do you mean?"

With an annoyed sigh, Brick turned back to face her, though his eyes still refused to meet hers. "What do you mean 'what do I mean'. You have to leave me the hell alone, okay?"

"But I didn't go to your house earlier."

Brick's eyes finally met hers as he grunted out a single questioning, "Huh?"

"I'm here because you came to _my_ house earlier...didn't you?"

"Why would I do that?"

Her face fell, and she looked down to her feet. "Well, you said...Nevermind. Were you really not there?"

"Hell no."

"Oh."

An awkward, pained silence fell between them as neither was sure what to do next. Blossom felt all the joy and excitement that had been building up for the past hour finally crash down around her. She was sure he had been there earlier. There was no way she couldn't have imagined it. Only Bubbles was that creative. But if Brick really hadn't been there, then what...

"Him," Blossom said with a groan.

"What?"

"Him has been trying to get us back together."

Brick groaned and kicked at the ground, making a large crack appear on gray surface of the rooftop. Once again his attention fell to every area of the roof except the small space Blossom was occupying. She could hear muffled curses crescendo into an angry torrent of incomprehensible grumbling sprinkled with her name and Him's. Each sound he made twisted at her intestines, and she felt like she would throw up from the tension she felt.

"So you mean to tell me," he eventually said, "that all of the crap you told me earlier wasn't you? Everything I heard you say this afternoon, that was all Him? The mayor and the not fighting thing, that was all just bullshit?"

Blossom's breath hitched in her throat. She wasn't sure what Him had told Brick, but maybe - JUST MAYBE - Him hadn't been a total butthole to them after all. She searched for the right words to say, trying to find anything that would make him stay and talk to her.

"I...I don't know what I, I mean...Him? Or maybe Him pretending to be me? Whatever, that doesn't matter. But if you're talking about me...confronting the Mayor and Ms. Bellum, I, well...I did, if that matters to you at all."

Slowly, Brick turned around and forced his wary eyes to meet hers for the first time that evening. "And?"

Blossom was taken aback; she hadn't been expecting such a calm answer. "And, you know, I told them what you told me to tell them."

Brick's expression hardened, and his hands shot out and clamped down on Blossom's shoulders. "I swear to God, I you're lying to me..." he said before taking a deep breath. His grip on her shoulders tightened, and Blossom had to stop herself from wincing at his force.

"I'm not," she said quietly.

He sighed and sat down, cross-legged, and placed his head in his hands. It was a few moments before he spoke again. "So what you're saying is - you told them specifically to 'go shove it up their asses?"

"Yes," she replied bluntly.

"And you actually said the word 'ass'?"

"Um...yeah, I'm pretty sure I did."

A gravelly rumbling noise sprouted from where Brick sat and grew into that smug, unsophisticated, wonderful laughter that she didn't know she had been missing until that point.

"So what did they do," he asked when his chuckling subsided. "Give ya a slap on the wrist and send you on your way?"

"No, actually, I think they fired me. Not that I was actually getting paid for what I was doing for them."

Brick looked up incredulously at her from his position on the ground. A single, disbelieving "Really?" escaped from him, and Blossom nodded in response.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried. You wouldn't pick up your phone." He responded by chuckling nervously and rubbing at the back of his neck.

"I guess that would be a problem, wouldn't it?" He looked up at her with an unreadable expression, and gently patted the ground next to him. She took that as an invitation to sit down, and did so.

"So...are you just...what now?"

Blossom sighed. That was the question, wasn't it? What to do, what to do. She knew what she wanted to say, but, seeing as Brick had only just let go of his anger enough to even look at her, she didn't want to push her luck. So she chose the simplest answer.

"Well, I was already planning on going to college, so I just decided to live on campus instead of at home. You know, really get the 'college experience', or whatever they call it."

"You're leaving?" Blossom couldn't help but almost smile at the note of worry she heard in his voice. She stared hard at the ground and shoved the emotion back down; she couldn't afford to upset him. Not now.

"Just my house. I'll still be in Townsville."

She could have sworn she heard a sigh of relief come from him, though that could have just been her imagination trying to stroke her ego.

"Alright...so...what I'm hearing is that you have no responsibility and will be living in a place where your Professor/dad-freak won't be watching if I come over."

There it was. The smirk she had been picturing for days. Just like that, everything seemed to brighten, and the early evening light seemed to take on the brilliance of the noonday sun. She caught his eyes, and he wiggled an eyebrow up and down suggestively in her direction, causing her to giggle into her hand like a fourth grader.

The lighthearted look was short-lived, however, and Brick's face soon fell once again. "But you still chose being a Powerpuff over me," he said matter-of-factly.

Blossom sighed. She really thought that she had had it. That she had finally begun to control the situation. The rooftop darkened as her guts seemed to twist inside of her once more. "No, it wasn't that."

"Then what was it? Because that's what it sounded like you were saying to me."

Blossom was now the one to put her head in her hands. Where were her words? What was she supposed to say?

"I don't really know," she began. "I was mad, and then you were mad, and I thought that because I had been a Powerpuff longer that it would just be...easier. And it wasn't."

Silence stretched between them for what felt like hours, until Brick finally choked out, "But you tried to fix it."

She looked back up at him. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Her words fell in front of her, and she wasn't sure how Brick would take them. The expression on his face wasn't anything she had ever seen from him before. She nearly gave in to the compulsion to beg, plead, cry, apologize. Anything to relieve the silence.

Before she could embarrass herself like that, though, she found Brick's hand winding its way around hers. The two of them sat there, hand in hand, waiting for the other to do something. It was many minutes before Blossom broke the silence with a very quiet, "I'm sorry." Brick's grip on her hand tightened and he leaned forward, burying his head onto her shoulder. She could hear the faintest, "Thank you," come from him, but wasn't sure what to say in return.

They seemed to sit like that for days. Or a few minutes. Time wasn't really an issue to either of them at that point. Eventually, however, Brick sat back up and asked, "What now?"

"That's up to you."

"Oh, really?" The smirk crept it's way onto his face. "We can do _anything_ I want?"

"...I guess"

* * *

"This is seriously what you want me to do?"

Brick shook the spray can and smiled at her. "I need to know if you really, truly feel bad about what happened."

"But this is illegal!"

"I thought you weren't a Puff anymore?"

"...touché."

The can flew through the air towards her, and she caught it just moments before it made contact with her abdomen. She shook it uncertainly, glancing nervously at a now very smug-looking Brick.

"C'mon, Pinky, the wall ain't gonna paint itself."

Blossom bit her lip and raised the can up with a shaking hand. After one final nervous look at Brick, her finger applied the slightest pressure to the nozzle, and red paint made contact with the pristine white walls of Townsville City Hall. The letters looped together until she was staring at the completed work in front of her.

BLOSSOM X BRICK

Brick laughed triumphantly at the sight while Blossom continued to stare in horror at what she had just done. "I'm a felon," she whispered, much to the amusement of her companion. With a snort of laughter, Brick walked forward and took the can out of her hand to spray a sloppy heart around her words before reaching his head down to place a soft kiss on top of her hair and quietly saying, "You're forgiven."

He still hadn't stopped laughing, even as they ditched the spray can and their shared vandalism. Blossom felt that she should be annoyed by that fact, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so - due, in part, to the fact that Brick had put his arm around her shoulders as they walked and she couldn't think of anything else.

"Hey, do you wanna go get coffee or somethin'?"

Blossom looked up just in time to see Brick wink at her. She felt her pocket for her wallet; if this went at all like it did the last time, she wanted to make sure she was at least able to pay. Once she was sure that she had what she needed, she smiled back at him. "I think I know a pretty great place for that."

* * *

They stared at the CLOSED sign that hung on the door. Of course the place wasn't open. It had to be around midnight now. What was she even thinking?

"Huh. Didn't really consider that. We could still go in, though? Think you can stand breaking the law twice in one night?"

"I really don't think I can," she told him.

"Hmmmmm." Brick drummed his fingers against his face thoughtfully. He snapped his fingers and exclaimed. "Got it! Head to the park and find our table. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"Wait, you want to go there right now?"

He rolled his eyes at the question. "No, I want to go next week. Of course I mean right now! Now go, get your ass over there." He lightly pushed her in the direction he wanted her to go before shooting off in the opposite direction himself.

Blossom flew slowly to the park and found the table in question, where she sat down and looked warily around herself. She hated the park at night. Of course she could take care of herself if she had to, but still. It was sketchy.

Brick popped in front of her, plopping a large container of cherry vanilla ice cream onto the table. "Ta-da," he said proudly while gesturing to the snack he had brought. "Look, I even found spoons." He placed the silver utensils down on the table in front of her. Blossom examined its beautiful decorative handle, trying to figure out why something so small looked so oddly familiar.

"Brick, did these come from that restaurant downtown?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to, babe," he told her with a wink.

The lid was soon removed from the ice cream container, and the two of them ate in what was, for the first time, a comfortable silence. After a few mouthfuls, Brick called her attention to himself.

"Hey, so ya know that word that people use when they like each other like a whole fuckin' lot?"

" _Language._ And what do you mean?"

"Ya know, that word. That people say to each other."

Blossom paused, and her face reddened despite the cold mouthful of ice cream she had just swallowed. "Do...do you mean-"

"DON'T SAY IT," Brick cut her off. "But...yeah, that."

"What about it," she asked.

"Just, ya know. That."

"Oh." Blossom took another thoughtful bite of the rapidly melting ice cream while pondering his meaning. Brick stared uncomfortably at the ground until she spoke up again.

"Hey, Brick?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that word people use when they like each other a whole freaking lot"

Brick's face broke out into a smile as his eyes met hers. "What about it," he asked.

"Just, you know. That."

* * *

The red room was filled with the harsh light of the many televisions surrounding the couch, where a red creature was laughing exuberantly and throwing popcorn at the nearest tv.

"FINALLY," Him trilled, speaking to nobody in particular.

* * *

 _ **Hey guys. It's been a while. But I finally wrote the final chapter! Thank you all sooooooooooo freaking much for all of your support. I really, truly do appreciate it. Seriously. Thank you.**_

 ** _Sorry about the long break. I really just lost my mojo (pun intended) for a while there. A long while. But I'm back now! Now that I've finished this, I'm going to be working on some other projects, starting with "Vision", which I haven't gotten very far into. I also took a couple of incomplete stories down for some major reworking, and those should come back within the next couple of months._**

 ** _I'm sorry that you guys had to wait. Thank you so much for everything, and for sticking with this story even when I didn't. Y'all are AMAZING!_**

 ** _333_**

 ** _-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-_**


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